


Dragon Ball AG: Saga One - The Journey Begins

by ConnorJordan96



Series: Dragon Ball AG [1]
Category: Dragon Ball
Genre: Action, Action & Romance, Action/Adventure, Adventure, Adventure & Romance, Eventual Romance, F/M, Gen, Ignores Dragon Ball GT, Ignores Dragon Ball Super, Major Original Character(s), Original Character(s), Originally Posted on FanFiction.Net, Post-Dragon Ball Z, Romance, Teen Romance, Teenagers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-02
Updated: 2021-01-02
Packaged: 2021-03-10 23:15:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 14
Words: 71,399
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28485222
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ConnorJordan96/pseuds/ConnorJordan96
Summary: The beginning of a new story in the Dragon World. Following a tragedy, Noca, a young Saiyan on Earth, is forced to embark on a journey to discover who he truly is, learn how to utilise his dormant powers, and find his place in the world. To do this he must find Son Goku, who has been off training Uub for many years. At the same time, Pan, the grand-daughter of Son Goku, struggles through her everyday life.Set after DBZ. No GT. No Super. Lots of OCs.
Relationships: Bra Briefs/Original Male Character(s), Son Pan/Original Male Character(s)
Series: Dragon Ball AG [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2086554
Kudos: 2





	1. Make Us Proud

_Hello, new readers! I say that because this story has actually been up on my Fanfiction.net account for about 6 years now, and this is like the third or fourth version of this story I have written, but I believe it to be the definitive edition. I began writing and planning all of this when I was 12 and I’m about to turn 25 now, so… yeah, lots of changes in that time._

_I want to keep this introduction brief so that new readers can get right into the story. I welcome all reviews, I love a good positive comment or even a question about something you don’t quite understand. I will say, if you have a negative thing to say please make sure it is CONSTRUCTIVE CRITICISM. Don’t say you don’t like something or think I’ve done something stupid if you can’t back it up with what I could do better, or why you don’t like something. I’m eager to keep learning and considering I am trying to write professionally I want to make sure I am the best I can possibly be._

_Now, some info, this is set 7 years after the end of Dragon Ball Z, features many characters from the show and even some aspects of Dragon Ball Super, but they are typically adapted to fit the confines of my canon. I also have a lot of my own original characters, both heroes and villains. I wanted to tell a completely new story in this universe. My own story._

_Main characters are Noca and Pan, and there is romance between the two that develops as time goes on, but I am not a romance writer and consider the adventure and action aspect of the story the focus._

_I don’t really think I need to drop anything else here. Thank you and please enjoy Dragon Ball AG!_

Format

**“Bold”** = Speech e.g. **“Hi, I’m Noca.”** He Said

 ** _“Bold Italics”_** = Thoughts e.g. **_“Darn It!”_** He thought.

 _Underlined Italics_ = Dream Sequence

 _“Underlined Italics”_ = Speech within Dream Sequence

*

**_Dragon Ball AG_ **

**_The Journey Begins_ **

****

**_Prologue – Age 791_**

* * *

This new journey begins years after the last ended.

It is currently Age 791 and 17 years ago a great man known to (almost) everyone as Son Goku, and his Z-Fighters, managed to defeat the impossible evil of Kid Buu. After Kid Buu was defeated Goku hoped that he would be able to have another chance to fight him again, but as a good person.

Goku's hopes came true and 10 years later he met Uub, the newly reincarnated Kid Buu. Goku enjoyed a great fight against the young boy, but the fight itself just presented another chance for Goku to keep himself busy.

The great warrior decided that he would take it upon himself to take Uub back to his village and train him to be his eventual successor.

The only problem with Goku leaving was that he would be leaving his family once again.

Out of all the friends and family that would be left behind, the most upset was his 4-year-old granddaughter, Pan.

7 years later and Pan is still trying to deal with her grandfather leaving, but that isn't what our story focusses on yet. The main focus on this story is the arrival of another person capable of being the successor to Goku and one day protecting the Earth, and all of its people. So, let us move onto the next part of our story about a young boy named Noca.

But before we join the young boy, let us learn a little bit about what led Noca to being where he was. To do so, we need to go back a long time and a long way from planet Earth. That’s right. Noca’s family were not completely human. Noca was part Saiyan on his mother’s side, and he had known this his whole life, he did still have a tail after all.

Noca’s mother, Emna was the first Saiyan in Noca’s family to be born on Earth, and she had been taught all about her family, so she passed the knowledge on down to her son. Emna’s father, Cilu, was a full blooded Saiyan, and the son of the Saiyan Kayu. Kayu never made it to Earth, dying after being caught in a surprise attack upon leaving planet Vegeta with his son. Cilu, originally had a Saiyan wife and a son, but both of them perished in the same attack meaning that Cilu was the last remaining member of that family.

When Cilu arrived on Earth he was found by a man from a local village and taken back there. The village in the mountains was desolate but began to thrive with great farming and the building of technology as Cilu took what he knew from his time on the Saiyan home-world and applied it to his time on Earth. Over time, Cilu became the youngest man to take the title of village elder, he renamed the village after his father, Kayu, and he married a human woman and they had a child, that child was Emna. Cilu always told his daughter about Saiyans and the two were very close.

One day, when Emna was very young, tragedy struck Cilu once more when his human wife went missing, never to be seen again. Cilu searched for a long time, never finding her and deciding that he should focus on raising his daughter. That was until Emna turned 16-years-old and the tragedy shifted. This time, Cilu was found dead one day. Emna was taken in by the new village elder, Sala, and Emna soon became a very respected member of the village herself.

Emna also became involved with a local man and the two had a child together, that child, Noca, was obviously a Saiyan as well. And he was born with a tail, and Emna hadn’t let on about her Saiyan heritage. This terrified the father, who took off, never returning. Emna was never sure why he left but she decided she didn’t need someone to help raise her son and she brought the boy up by herself.

12-years-later and Noca was a functioning member of the village. Doing the same work his grand-father had done all those years and even travelling around nearby villages to help out and to bring supplies back. Noca knew he wasn’t human, he knew he had an unusual amount of latent power, but he wasn’t one to fight.

That was about to change…

*

**_Chapter 1: Make Us Proud_**

* * *

On the surface, Noca was as normal and innocent as any other little boy would be. The only thing that looked different about him was the tail. That was the only thing that people noticed upon first looking at Noca. He had gotten used to the weird looks he received over the years, but due to how much he helped people and how little he travelled out of his village it had become the norm. It was only the kids that consistently made fun of him.

Aside from his tail, Noca also had long and spiky dark-brown hair, that he refused to have cut for the longest time, essentially his entire life. His mother didn’t mind too much, Noca used to tie it back with a piece of old cloth that had been handed down from his mother and before it had come from his grand-father. Typically, Noca would wear comfortable clothes that were suitable for doing labour and odd jobs around his village and the other local village.

The other village was where Noca’s only friend close to his own age resided. There was a red-headed girl by the name of Holline. She had been Noca’s friend ever since they were rather young. She was literally the only child around that didn’t make fun of his appearance or tease him. Although it didn’t happen as often as it used to, not after Noca flipped out when he was only five-years-old. He became far too enraged, and attacked one of the teenagers, but from then on none of the kids would approach him. However, it didn’t stop the comments and odd teasing.

Noca was fine with the one friend he had, over time Holline had begun to learn everything about the boy, even his alien heritage. She even shared some of Noca’s teasing, although not on such a large scale. She was only teased for her intense, blood-red hair. It was odd, because neither of her parents had the same coloured hair, nor her grand-father. That was one of the ways the two of them became close, bonding over the fact they were outcasts.

Noca also had a close relationship with his mother, and the other adults in the village had a respect for Noca due to how helpful he was. It was when the young Saiyan was running an errand that his adventure started

*

_Monday 18 th September Age 791_

It was a day like any other. Reasonably cloudy, but still rather warm due to it being the back end of Summer. The local people were doing their everyday tasks, whether it be cleaning, working the stalls, building, or farming. Everyone was keeping busy. Noca had travelled to the village to collect some meats and other cooking supplies to help replenish the stock of the Kayu village. This village, the Rinjin Village, was known for farming animals, and they would often trade meats with the Kayu village, in return for fruits and vegetables that were grown there. They had a good working relationship, and the locals would often visit each other, not being located far from one another.

This was part of why Noca had such a good relationship with Holline. Her Grand-Father ran the largest farm in the village so Noca would often visit to deliver supplies and collect more. Noca made a point of requesting this as his job purely so he and Holline could spend some time together. On this day, Noca was spending most of the day with his friend and he wouldn’t be returning to his village until the evening, with permission from his mother, of course.

The two were running through the village to get to the valley so they could go by the river and do some fishing. Holline was slower than Noca so most of the time she had to chase after him.

 **“Come on, keep up,”** Noca called back, chuckling, and even arrogantly running backwards. His natural senses were significantly stronger than the average person’s. Noca never seemed to really notice it though, it was natural to him after all.

 **“Slow down, Noca!”** Holline called back, trying with all her might to keep up. She may not have realised it at the time, but just by being Noca’s friend and spending a lot of time with him, Holline’s own natural energy was higher than average. Or at least it could be if she were to try and put more effort into focussing or training it.

Noca turned around to make sure he was safely getting through. He didn’t really want to accidently bump into anyone. The adults seemed to pay no attention to Noca and Holline. As far as they were concerned, they were just another couple of kids playing together. Some people had taken notice though and followed Noca with their eyes. Noca wasn’t aware of them watching him. Their eyes soon fell on Holline as she chased after the boy with the tail and started whispering to each other. One of them bent down and picked up a rock, launching it towards the red-head. It hit her in the leg, and she tripped, falling on her front, hard.

Noca immediately knew his friend was in distress and stopped, skidding across the ground and turning back to see her on the floor, with the group to the side laughing. They were older kids, about fifteen-seventeen, but that didn’t bother Noca as he rushed back to help Holline up.

 **“Are you ok?”** Noca asked, helping her up. She seemed to wince in pain and Noca noticed she had scratched her knees up and her hands were a little scuffed. Both her knees were bleeding, but only a little bit. She seemed upset but more from embarrassment than pain. She started to go red in the face and Noca was beginning to feel quite angry. His senses tingled a little as he felt something approaching and instinctively lifted his hand, managing to catch another rock that was flying towards Holline’s head. He turned to face the group, wanting to throw it back but soon noticed that the boy that threw it was being scolded by one of the adults.

Noca felt his anger dissipate, noticing that the situation was being dealt with. He put the rock down and helped Holline up to her feet, checking she was ok for them to still go on and play by the river. She showed she was still eager to go, so they did.

They spent a couple of hours by the river, catching some fish, but more for fun rather than for food. They would put them back immediately after catching them. After their couple of hours, the two of them were sitting by the river bank, just relaxing and taking in the afternoon air. As it started to approach 4:30pm Noca mentioned that he should be heading back to his village soon, he wouldn’t get back there until around 7pm at that rate. They made their way back to the Rinjin village so that Noca could collect the supplies he needed to take back. They were close to home when something flew over their heads very quickly. It was high up so they couldn’t see what it was but Noca was almost certain it was a person. It was uneasy for him as well.

 **“That was a weird looking jet?”** Holline mentioned, but it was very quickly out of sight.

 **“I think it was a person,”** Noca mentioned, still watching after it, even when it was in the distance.

 **“A person? How many people do you know that can fly?”** Holline asked, laughing.

 **“Actually, my mom told me that if people train hard enough, they can learn how to fly using their energy,”** Noca explained, still facing the same direction. Holline was about to respond but Noca interrupted. **“That thing was heading in the direction of my village…”**

It was a very offhand comment, Noca wasn’t reading into it. He was merely making an observation, but then his uneasy feeling got stronger and Noca was starting to feel very sick. He was worried, and his body was telling him he needed to be. Soon, his eyes went wide, and he dropped the fishing supplies he was holding, freezing on the spot.

 **“What is it?”** Holline asked, starting to worry for the boy. Rushing up to him.

 **“Go back home,”** Noca instructed her before he started to run off in the direction of his home. Holline went to run after him but realised she couldn’t leave her parents’ supplies. She turned back and picked them up, watching as Noca disappeared over the hill and then rushed back to her village.

Noca ran along the path as fast as his legs could take him. He didn’t understand what was happening but whatever it was, it was something bad and Noca knew he needed to do something. He needed to get home. As he got further along the path, he noticed the sun was going down and it would probably be dark by the time he got back. His worries started to increase the closer he got, and he even started to get a strong headache. What was going on?

As he started to get closer, he noticed that even though it had been getting darker there was light coming from the direction of his village and even black clouds. Clouds… that were rising from the ground? Noca slowed for a second before his mind told him what it was. He noticed flecks of light rising into the air with the clouds and that was enough for his mind to reach a conclusion.

 **“Fire…”** Noca muttered to himself as he began sprinting again, this time his speed picked up, he was going faster than before. Noca didn’t take any notice of this point as he continued. He only had one goal. He finally reached the hill that looked down on his village and that’s when he saw that the traditionally peaceful image had been turned to one of horror. Noca was briefly frozen with fear, but quickly ran down the hill to the village entrance.

People were frantically rushing around, getting to safety, using water to put out fires on their properties, or crops. Parents, children, and the elderly were rushing into cover. All the able-bodied people were doing their best to be helpful in the midst of this disaster. Noca noticed a small group of younger kids that were stuck together, frozen in fear. Noca rushed over to them and helped guide them towards some adults. That was when one of the mothers looked up to Noca and seemed to have more than fear in her eyes.

 **“Noca… I’m sorry,”** She muttered, sympathetically. Noca furrowed his brow and then turned to face the village. He immediately recognised where the source of the fire was.

 **“Mom…”** He said, rushing towards the flames, past all of the adults. No matter how hard they tried to stop him Noca ignored them all. He had one destination, his home. The people desperately tried to deter him from his course, but nothing stopped Noca from bursting right through the door of his burning home. He stood in the door way and yelled out for his mother. Everything was broken and on fire in front of him, but he was only looking for one person.

He walked through, holding his arms up to protect himself, but not doing too well as his clothes were singed and his skin licked by the fire. He did his best to avoid debris and even when a bit of the roof caved, knocking the ceiling down on him he managed to dive forward out of the way. He looked up and yelled for his mother again. No response. He got back to his feet and continued to dance through the wreckage. He turned into the living room area and there he saw his mother laying on the floor. She was alive but trapped under some debris.

 **“Mom!”** Noca called out as he jumped through, trying to move towards his mother but some of the flames raged right next to him and shocked him, causing him to stumble and fall to the ground. Emna looked up and noticed her son had returned.

 **“No…”** She murmured, barely managing to speak before coughing and choking on the thick smoke that was filling the room, and her lungs. Noca was back to his feet and tried to get to his mother to lift the debris and free her. **“Please… stay back.”**

Noca looked past his mother, out of the hole in the building behind her and could see a silhouetted figure floating in the air. Noca couldn’t tell if the person could see him but he didn’t seem to make any movement.

 **“Mom, I have to save you,”** Noca said, before starting to cough as the smoke began to enter his own lungs.

 **“Please… leave… hide…”** Emna said through coughs, she managed to move her arm towards her son and Noca thought she was trying to get him to help her. Noca rushed forward to grab her hand but she raised it and sent out a small pulse of energy that knocked Noca back slightly. He stumbled but stayed on his feet. **“Noca, Run… please!”**

Noca looked back at his mother, heartbroken. He couldn’t understand why she wanted this to happen and he started to get teary eyed. He noticed that his mother was crying. She was in pain, physically and emotionally. She could barely speak anymore as she looked at her son, trying to force herself to smile.

 **“Please… Mom, I have to save you,”** Noca muttered, trying to move forward. Emna pulsed her energy, pushing Noca back again. He was beginning to get more upset and angrier at himself for not being able to do anything. He couldn’t quite feel it, but his energy was pulsing and rising. Emna noticed it, and she was proud, but also hurt. She knew her son was capable of so much and she wanted to see him achieve everything he dreamed of. Even if she had to watch from the next life.

**“Noca, please… leave me. Leave this village… find Goku… Son Goku, and… live your life… for me,”** Emna managed to get all of that out, between many coughs and chokes. Noca couldn’t bear to watch it and went to rush forward for her again. **“I love you.”**

She closed her eyes, crying harder and raised her hand again, pulsating more energy and this time, it was enough to knock Noca back through the wall and out of the house. Noca smashed through the front of the house and rolled across the ground, away from the flaming building. He immediately pushed up and went to run back in.

In that moment there was a flash of light from the building and an explosion that once again knocked Noca from his feet and sent him flying towards the village centre. He hit the ground and rolled, hitting against the fountain. He got to look back at the rubble of his house as the silhouetted figure turned and blasted away immediately.

Noca winced and moved on his hands and knees towards the house. He got back to his feet and stumbled forward. He ached all over. His skin was stinging, and he couldn’t stop himself from crying. His jaw trembled as his tried so hard to contemplate everything that had happened. The fire continued to rage, so many of the adults continued to fight to stop it all, but Noca paid no attention to anything around him as he stepped forward, slowly, painfully. Some of the people watched in silence, some were rushing around, continuing to work hard to save their village. None of it mattered to Noca as he continued forward.

His home was in ruins and, as it seemed, so was his entire life. The whole world had vanished from his peripheral vision and he was focussed on the debris and rubble. He stopped and fell to his knees, staring open mouthed at the house, his jaw still trembling.

 **“I… Mom…”** Noca muttered. He was struggling to contemplate it all. He didn’t understand. He didn’t want to. He bent over towards the ground, his muscles tensing, his energy flaring inside, and his anger growing. He was broken. There were no restraints on him anymore. He burst open and let out a blood curdling scream into the air as his aura flared out from his body, creating a huge gust of wind that blew all the flames away. The villagers had to shield themselves from the view, covering their eyes and hiding away until everything died down. They looked back towards the boy and noticed a raging golden aura surrounding him. His hair stood on edge and also appeared to be golden. It was a sight to behold.

Noca raised his clenched fists up into the air and brought them down on the ground with a tremendous crash, cracking the ground and cutting at his hands. After that he slumped forward and fell on his front, passing out.

Everything fell silent.

*

_Tuesday 19 th September Age 791_

Noca awoke about six or seven hours later. He was lying in bed, which immediately unsettled him. He turned, looking out of the window, noticing it was dark, but he felt wide away, yet exhausted. He moved to the edge of the bed and got out. He noticed it wasn’t his room and suddenly it dawned on him. Everything that had happened came flooding back to him. He looked to his hands seeing that they were cut.

He rushed to the window and noticed the lingering smoke and smouldering crops from the fire. It really had happened and wasn’t all a dream like Noca hoped. His village had been attacked. It had happened. His mother was…

Noca started to cry again as he moved towards the bed to sit down but he felt light-headed and fell down, managing to grip the side of the bed to stop himself. The action caused a loud thud and Noca soon felt someone approach the room. It was Elder Sala that stepped in. The man that had taken care of his mother after her father died. The older man rushed to Noca and helped him up, sitting him on the bed.

 **“It is late, my boy. You must get some rest,”** Elder Sala instructed, but Noca brushed him off, standing up again and looking to the clock. It was nearly 1am. Noca took a couple of breaths and settled himself, tears still in his eyes. He turned back to the Elder and looked like he had a hundred questions. The Elder understood and smirked at the boy. Noca composed himself as best as he could, remembering something that had been said to him.

 **“Who is Son Goku?”** Noca asked. The Elder nodded and stood up.

 **“Come with me,”** Sala said as he turned and walked out of the room. Noca followed him down the stairs and then down to the basement of the house. The Elder turned on a light and showed that there was a lot of boxes of stuff and cabinets full of photos and things like past village treasure. Hardly any of it was worth anything and was mostly kept through sentimental value. The Elder walked over to a cabinet and pulled out a couple of items. First, a couple of framed photos, something that looked like clothing, and then something inside a small brown bag. A ball of some sort.

The elder first handed Noca one of the photos.

 **“That is the last photo that we had taken of you and your mother,”** Sala said, keeping his eyes on Noca. The boy took the photo and looked down. He smirked to himself, but tears dripped down again. **“Keep that with you. Also, in this photo…”**

Noca took the next picture and saw that it was fairly older. It featured Elder Sala as a younger man, standing beside a man that looked eerily like an older version of Noca, but with shorter spiky hair. It was his grand-father.

 **“You see what Cilu is wearing there?”** Sala asked, Noca looked down and nodded. The colour of the photo wasn’t great, but Noca could make out the green fighting Gi with black wristbands and a black belt. Cilu was also wearing black headband which Noca instantly recognised as the one he himself wore. The elder then handed the clothing to Noca. **“Here is that Gi. It is yours now.”**

Noca took it and smiled up at the elder. Sala then handed him the small brown bag with the ball inside.

**“Take this also. We have had it here for a few years now. I think I know what it is, and I want you to take it with you, for luck.”**

Noca placed all the items on the side but handed back the photo of his grand-father.

 **“That’s not mine, that belongs to the village. It’s a part of our history,”** Noca said, the Elder took it back and smiled at Noca.

 **“I don’t know who Son Goku is,”** Sala said, unfortunately, **“I have heard his name before though.”**

**“Do you know why my Mom thinks…”** Noca started before stopping himself and taking a breath. **“Why my Mom thought I should find him?”**

 **“I imagine you will find the reason when you find him, after all, I believe he is another Saiyan,”** Sala explained. Noca’s eyes went wider and he started to realise what he needed to do.

 **“Fine. I understand now. I have to leave,”** Noca said. Sala nodded, as if he already knew Noca would come to this decision. Noca wasn’t sure why the Elder was so calm and helpful with this. Why had he seemed so prepared?

 **“I think your mother knew a day would come when you needed to leave. When you would need to follow your own path, and find your own life,”** Sala pondered out loud. **“She always feared the worse. Tragedy seemed to follow your family…”**

Noca nodded in response, clearly knowing about his grand-father’s death, his grand-mother’s disappearance, and now… his own mother’s death. No. His mother’s murder. Noca started to feel more determined than ever. The Elder handed Noca a backpack.

 **“Here, take whatever supplies you’ll need. Head to Rinjin. They will help you too,”** Sala suggested, taking Noca’s hands in his own. **“You hold the spirit of this village in you forever. This is your home and we are with you wherever the road takes you. Now, go.”**

Noca pulled away and nodded respectfully to the elder. He then moved and hugged the elderly man that had been there all his life. Sala returned the hug and then broke it. Noca smiled one last time and walked off. Stopping to take some food and change into the Gi. It was a little big, but he managed to hoist up the legs and use the black fabric with it to tighten it around his waist and ankles. He was prepared. He left the building and walked through the village stopping at his old home.

The rubble had been cleared up as best as it could have been at that time. Noca half-hoped that his mother was still alive, or that something else remained. His possessions were destroyed but none of that mattered. He had lost the one thing he truly loved in the world. He closed his eyes and dropped to his knees outside the house again. He bowed his head towards the house as if saying a prayer. He said his final goodbye to his mother, understanding the quest he needed to go on. He stood up, opening his eyes and turned towards the exit.

Some of the adults were still awake and stood outside their homes as Noca walked through. No one said anything. Nothing needed to be said. It had been Noca’s home for his whole life but the Kayu village needed to be left behind, at least for now. Maybe he would return someday, but Noca carried an unusual determination with him as he left. It was as if, somewhere in his mind, he hadn’t truly accepted the truth of that day.

Either way, Noca’s journey had begun.


	2. Normal Life?

**_Chapter 2: Normal Life?_ **

* * *

Our Hero’s journey has begun. Noca has started on his quest to find the mysterious Saiyan, Son Goku, but little does Noca know, Goku won’t be easy to track down. But we’re not going to follow that thread. Not yet anyway.

For now, we are going to drop in on some other characters. Some characters that we are all familiar with. Our friends, the Z-Fighters, as well as their families.

A few years after Goku left to train with Uub, Gohan and Videl decided to leave the 439 Mountain Region, wishing to let Goten and his girlfriend, Valese, move in together to start their lives. The two had been together since high-school and had become very serious. Gohan decided the best place for his family to live would be halfway between West City and Satan City. Gohan and Videl both worked in West City, for Capsule Corp. and their daughter, Pan, would be attending school in Satan City. Plus, it was still close enough for the couple to visit their families. Chi-Chi though, had moved out of the Mt Paozu home also. She moved to West City, into the Capsule Corp. Compound, at least for a few years. Also, so that Goten and Valese could have the space to get their lives going and also so that she wouldn’t be completely alone after Goku left.

The area that Gohan and Videl lived in was situated close to the Moori Forest, an area of land created by Dende in honour of the Elder Namekian that was in-charge of the group when Dende was living on New Namek. Dende was also joined on the lookout by Piccolo for the majority of the time. The older Namekian choosing to remain there, but he would also visit Gohan and his family from time to time. Piccolo was also the only one from the group to remain in contact with Goku after the Saiyan left to train with Uub. However, within the first year of training Uub, Goku did visit his family, soon severing ties to focus on training and even going as far as to isolate and hide away so not to be disturbed. This was achieved in part with help from Piccolo and Dende. Goku had been away for seven years by this point.

What about the rest of the Z-gang? Krillin was still living at Kame house with his wife, Android #18, as well as Roshi. Krillin’s daughter, Marron had actually left home to move to West City, to attend University there. She was twenty years old and about to start her second year. Yamcha had seemingly moved to East City and started a family. He only really met up with the group at big reunions which had become more infrequent with the lack of a Goku. Tien and Chiaotzu were off training somewhere and it were rumoured they had their own dojo together.

What about the Capsule Corp. posse? Bulma still lived there and was running the company after her father’s retirement to the Eastern islands. Vegeta was still living there, training in his gravity room a lot, but also spending time with his family from time-to-time. Trunks still lived there and worked for the company. Bra attended school in Satan City with Pan.

I think that’s all the people we needed to catch up with.

Everyone was affected in their own way when Goku left. They were all upset and disappointed, but it was certainly something that people had come to expect. It wasn’t in the Saiyan’s nature to sit still and let life happen. He had to go out there and make something of himself. He wanted to enjoy himself and fight. The people most affected were certainly Goten, Pan, and Chi-Chi. While Chi-Chi had also accepted it was Goku’s nature, she couldn’t deny it broke her. She had to see her husband leave again and basically without a proper goodbye. She managed to carry on with her life and focus on her family.

Goten lost his father. He had managed to have a few years with him and got to start growing into an adult with his father there to help him. To spar with him. But then he was gone again and Goten harboured some resentment. He managed to get on with his life by focussing on his girlfriend and doing lots of local farming work with the villages and towns around the 439 Mountain Range. He managed to build something of a good reputation for himself.

Now Pan, she was very upset, but also too young to understand when it happened, so she grew up feeling very depressed about what had happened. Both Bulma and Videl saw this in the little girl and ended up trying to get her to find someone to keep her company and help her deal with the difficulties. That is how the friendship between Pan and Bra came to be. But it was more than just their parents putting them together. The two cared for each other deeply and were best friends. Going as far to see themselves as like sisters to one another. Pan couldn’t imagine being without her best-friend and the same went for Bra.

Now that we have caught up let us drop into their lives and see what happens for Pan in a typical day. The events that you are about to read also take place on the very same day as the attack on the Kayu Village.

*

_Monday 18 th September Age 791_

Six in the morning on a school day. Not just any school day, but a Monday. The beginning of the week. The worst day of the week for any pre-teen. Nobody liked to get up out of bed on a Monday morning, and Videl understood that. But she was already up and preparing to get ready for work, so she needed to make sure that her daughter was also up and out of bed ready for school.

Pan was part Saiyan, obviously, and that meant she was a heavy sleeper. Videl dealt with the same thing every week so she had basically become Pan’s personal alarm clock and the mother had plenty of methods she would use to get her daughter out of bed and wide awake. Videl knocked on Pan’s bedroom door and opened up, stepping in hoping to see her daughter awake, but she had come to know better. Pan was still snuggled up in bed, fast asleep. Videl sighed.

**“Pan, time to wake up,”** Videl said softly, hoping that she would open her eyes and wake up without Videl needed to resort to more harsher methods. Pan didn’t budge. Videl stepped in fully and stood at the foot of Pan’s bed. **“Pan. Get up. Time for school.”**

Pan just groaned, showing that she had shifted awake, but wasn’t willing to get up.

**“I won’t ask nicely again, you’re clearly awake, so come on, get out of bed,”** Videl said, showing her strict side. Pan groaned again and pulled the covers over her head.

**“Just let me sleep a little longer,”** Pan mumbled. Videl shook her head and started to power up her Ki a little bit, the spike in energy resonating in Pan’s senses and causing her to shift uncomfortably **. “Ok… I’m awake.”**

**“Get ready for school and come down for breakfast,”** Videl instructed, walking over to Pan’s curtains and opening them to get the light in the room and then she left, leaving the door open. Pan sat up slowly, stretching and yawning. She slumped out of the bed and dragged herself to her bathroom. She showered, brushed her teeth, got dressed and prepared her bag for her day at school. The worst part about getting up when her mother decided to make breakfast was that it was about two hours before she had to meet Bra in West City. It didn’t take her long to get there, yet her mother always insisted on getting her up and ready early.

Pan would give Videl one thing, at least she had more time to dawdle when getting ready and could have a proper breakfast. That was a nice aspect. Pan opted to wear a slightly baggy red top which had a Capsule Corp. logo on the front, with a pair of light blue jeans and some white trainers. Pan wasn’t someone to wear much make-up but after spending lots of time with Bra she had been convinced to use a little bit. Once ready, Pan went down to sit and have breakfast with her parents.

Gohan was already there, ready and wearing his suit, although he wasn’t wearing his jacket at the table. He was just dishing up his own plate from the buffet breakfast that had been prepared. Videl was preparing Pan’s plate as well as her own. Pan slumped down at the table and yawned grabbing her plate and thanking her mother. Gohan started to dig in, devouring his breakfast and going back for seconds. Pan had been tired but her Saiyan appetite started to wake her up and she was soon eating as much as she could, not as much as her father, but enough.

Once he had finished eating Gohan decided to start a conversation while the family all still had time before they needed to be anywhere.

**“You manage to get all your homework done over the weekend?”** Gohan asked his daughter, taking a sip of his morning coffee. Pan was just finishing the last of her breakfast and almost choked upon that reminder. No. That was the answer. Pan quickly took a drink of water and cleared her throat.

**“Yep, all done, Mr. Sheffield’s homework was especially difficult,”** Pan lied, smirking and pretending to wipe sweat from her brow. **“Took me all night to get that done.”**

Pan looked to Videl and saw her mother staring at her with a raised eyebrow. Pan looked down awkwardly and picked up everyone’s plates. She rushed and put them on the side and then walked towards the door.

**“I’m going to make sure I have all my stuff together, make sure I don’t forget to take that homework in,”** Pan said, smiling as she rushed off up to her room. Gohan took another sip from his coffee and chuckled to himself. Videl just shook her head.

**“You know she didn’t do that homework, right?”** Videl asked, getting up out of her chair to go and wash some dishes.

Back up in her room, Pan was rumbling through her bag pulling out the correct book and practically ripping through the pages to find what the homework question was. She came to it and grabbed a pen, ready to write down a quick answer before noticing it was an exam style question, asking her to ‘discuss.’ Pan’s heart sank as she hadn’t done any of the research needed and knew there was only one person she could turn to for last minute help.

The raven-haired girl grabbed her phone and tapped on the last contact. The phone rang and then a rather tired voice answered on the other end.

**“Uh… morning Pan,”** Bra said down the line, yawning, **“I was just getting up.”**

**“Yeah, sorry, thing is I forgot to do Sheffield’s homework, and it’s too much for me to do right now. Can I come over to yours now and use yours?”** Pan asked, a hopeful yet anxious tone in her voice.

**“Ok, I guess, you can’t copy it though,”** Bra said, reacting as if this was a regular occurrence.

**“I won’t copy it, I just need some help with structure and if anything, I’ll just rush it, but I haven’t got the research,”** Pan explained further, sounding a bit more erratic.

**“Ok, ok. Calm down, just head here as soon as you can, I’m up now so I’ll be ready by the time you’re here,”** Bra said.

**“Thanks Bra, I’ll see you soon!”** Pan said, hanging up before Bra even had a chance to respond. Pan quickly grabbed her stuff together and threw her shoes on, rushing back down the stairs. She popped her head into the kitchen to say bye to her parents. **“I’m heading to Bra’s now, I’ll see you both later, love you lots.”**

Pan, once again, didn’t give them the time to respond and she was already out of the door and leaping into the air, ready to fly to West City. She was passing over lots of villages and town as she blasted her way to the big West City. She was tiring herself out by how fast she was flying but she would have plenty of time to recuperate that energy.

Upon arrival in the City Pan dropped right into the Capsule Corp. compound and rushed into the residential building where Bra and her family resided. Pan was considered a V.I.P. as far as the Capsule Corp. employees that worked on the compound were concerned and they saw her enough to warrant ignoring whenever she dropped in.

Pan rushed towards the stairs, not taking the chance to see if anybody was hanging about, she needed to get to Bra and get that homework completed as soon as possible, but a voice stopped her.

**“Hi, Pan,”** a woman’s voice called out. Pan stalled and backtracked, seeing Bulma sitting at a desk on her laptop, she was wearing a dressing-gown showing that she wasn’t ready for business just yet. **“In a rush?”**

**“Hey Bulma, yeah, I need to speak to Bra about something, kinda urgent,”** Pan explained, about to rush off again, **“Oh, is my Grandma about?”**

**“Yeah, Chi-Chi’s out in the garden dome at the moment, tending to the plants, you know her, she likes to keep busy,”** Bulma explained, chuckling, **“Now go see Bra, make sure she’s ready for school.”**

Pan smiled and laughed before rushing off up the stairs. She arrived at Bra’s door and knocked a couple of times, quite frantically. She heard some stumbling on the other side and then the blue-haired girl opened the door.

**“Knock louder, why don’t you?”** Bra joked as she let Pan in. Pan rushed in and grabbed her book out of her bag.

**“Sorry, hi, but I need to get this done quickly, where’s yours?”** Pan asked. Bra laughed a little and tried to settle Pan down.

**“Calm down, it’s only a bit of homework,”** Bra took her book from her bag and handed it to Pan. **“Here, you do that, and I’ll finish getting ready.”**

Pan quickly jotted down some notes based on Bra’s answer and then started to formulate her own based on what she managed to get from the Brief girl’s work. Bra was always the more intelligent of the two. Pan was smart too, she had been raised by Gohan after all, but Bra seemed to have a more academic mind and was more interested in the schoolwork.

Pan managed to write something she was proud of by the time Bra was completely ready. The blue-haired girl stepped out of her dressing room wearing a lilac dress.

**“You finished it?”** Bra asked. Pan looked up and sighed.

**“Just about. It’s probably terrible,”** Pan joked, putting the finishing touches on her paragraph and then putting her book in her bag and handing Bra’s back to her. **“Thanks.”**

**“No problem,”** Bra replied with a smile. The two of them prepared to leave, Bra put on her shoes, checked herself in the mirror one last time, and took her bag and left her room. It was just as she and Pan stepped out of her room that they heard another door go down the hall, and someone was sneaking the opposite way.

**“What was that?”** Pan asked, her senses kicking into gear. Bra scoffed and looked at Pan with a mischievous smirk.

**“I think I know.”**

The two of them walked towards the sound and heard two voices, both whispered, both familiar. One of them was a guy, with lavender coloured hair, and the other a young woman with blonde hair.

**“Hi Trunks, hi Marron,”** Bra said, with a little bit too much glee. Pan was a little shocked to see the two adults turn around slowly with surprised looks on their faces.

**“Good morning, Bra,”** Trunks said, through grit teeth with a fake smile. Marron looked a bit more worried than anything and the amusement of the situation started to dawn on Pan.

**“Are you two dating?”** Bra asked, her smile widening. Trunks was still wearing his fake smile, but his eyes told a tale of fear. Marron on the other hand was accepting the situation.

**“Someone was going to find out soon, Trunks,”** Marron said, turning to her boyfriend. Trunks sighed and accepted it.

**“Fine. Yes, Bra. We are dating. We just wanted to see where things were going before we told anyone,”** Trunks explained. He seemed to be a little defeated, as did Marron.

**“Let’s say we were a bit worried about what family responses would be, you know, I am five years younger than him,”** Marron explained further. It made sense to the younger girls, but they didn’t think it was an issue.

**“So what?”** Pan said, scoffing. **“It’s not like you’re a teenager, Marron.”**

**“Yeah, you’re Twenty!”** Bra agreed. The couple seemed to perk up at the support. **“Honestly, I’m happy for you, Trunks.”**

Trunks was pleased to hear that and looked at Marron again, the two smiled at each other.

**“And we’re not about to tell anyone, just do it when you’re ready. But you have nothing to worry about,”** Bra said. Trunks clearly wasn’t expecting the support from his sister. **“Now, we have to go to school, so you get back to sneaking Marron out of here.”**

The four of them said their goodbyes as Pan and Bra headed off back downstairs while Trunks escorted Marron off of the premises by flying her out of the window. The two schoolgirls said bye to Bulma as they headed off out of the property into the grounds. Bra took out a capsule, throwing it out and letting it transform into a jet ready to transport them to Satan City.

Upon arrival in Satan City the two girls had enough time to land a couple of blocks away from the school so they could get themselves something to eat and drink on the way to school from their favourite Café. Bra opting to get a hot-chocolate and a little cake for later on in the day. Pan got herself an ice-tea, believing to be a bit more sophisticated. This was just part of their ordinary routine. They liked to have the peaceful walk to school and chat, especially while there was still warm weather.

The girls arrived at school, a little bit before the bell would go off, as usual. They headed to their lockers and took out what they needed and put away what they wouldn’t until later on, as usual. While standing at her locker Pan heard someone clear their throat behind her. She turned around slowly and saw it was one of the boys from one of her classes. She couldn’t place which one it was in that moment.

**“Hi, can I help you?”** Pan asked, awkwardly, not liking to be disturbed when with her friend. Especially by boys. She wasn’t in that mindset just yet.

**“Uh… yeah. Sorry, I’m Jack. I’m in your math class,”** He said, nervously, those nerves not helped by Pan’s disinterested demeanour.

**“Ok, Jack. Again, can I help you?”** Pan asked again, similar tone in her voice. More nervous shuffling from Jack.

**“Oh, sorry, I was just wondering… if you’d maybe, I don’t know, wanna go a date sometime?”** Jack asked, finally strumming up the confidence to force the words out. Pan couldn’t deny she hadn’t expected that. Jack was one of those boys who was heavily involved in the sports groups. He was even wearing his sports gear, meaning that he probably had some sort of scholarship and he liked to show it. Pan was a little nervous now, knowing what she wanted to say, but trying to find the right way to do so.

**“Uh… that’s nice, but I’m sorry, I’m not interested in that right now,”** Pan replied, not sure if it came across as rude in her head, she didn’t really care, but she didn’t want to hurt anyone’s feelings. Jack did seem rather disappointed in that response and sort of backed away slowly while apologising for disturbing the raven-haired girl. Pan turned around, blushing from nerves and went back to her locker.

**“Wow, that was a bit harsh,”** Bra muttered to her best friend. Pan was taken aback by the whole situation and now Bra was saying she was harsh.

**“What, how?”** Pan questioned. Bra closed her locker and looked up the hallway to where Jack had wandered off to.

**“He was really cute,”** Bra practically squealed, almost jealous that Pan was being asked out first thing on a Monday morning.

**“You date him then,”** Pan said, closing her own locker and starting to walk down the hall with her friend. Bra sort of giggled at that answer, she was clearly interested.

**“He didn’t ask me though,”** Bra mentioned.

**“Dating isn’t appealing to me right now,”** Pan said, not moving on from the topic, it clearly struck a chord in her. Bra was the only person she could talk to about that kind of thing after all. **“There’s just no one out there for me right now. Everyone in this school is kinda disappointing. Mom says it’s because I’m comparing them to my power level or something like that, probably a Saiyan thing.”**

**“But I’m Saiyan and I don’t act like that,”** Bra scoffed.

**“Yeah but you never train or fight, or utilise the Saiyan power,”** Pan replied. Bra had to agree with Pan on that. The blue-haired girl had never been one for violence or fighting.

The two girls went through the rest of the day along the normal routine, which was ordinary considering it was a school day. Pan did find herself daydreaming a little bit throughout the day. Something she did often, but today was different. After the talk about dating she was starting to consider thoughts on why she hadn’t seen it as important in her life. Could it really be because they weren’t satisfying when compared to her power level or is it the more realistic idea that she just hadn’t met someone that she truly liked? She was also only twelve years old and dating and relationships were not important at that point in her life.

All the daydreaming made lunch come by rather quickly with the two girls heading for their lockers quickly. They may have much better manners than most, if not all, of the males in their families, but at the end of the day they were both part-Saiyan and their appetites were significantly bigger than ordinary humans. The girls grabbed their lunches and ate outside. It was a nice day, so it seemed only right. They did opt to sit in the shade though. They liked the warmth, not the sun bearing down on them.

The girls spent most of their time together, just the two of them. While they had plenty of friends in their classes, they preferred each other’s company. The two of them were reasonably popular in school as well, considering who they were and who they were related to. It didn’t mean everyone liked them, but it meant they were known. Among the people that weren’t fond of Pan and Bra was a girl named Chloe. A girl that had, at one time, been friends with the girls but over time she seemed to drift further and hold a big grudge against them. Chloe had her own best friend, Alice, and would normally travel in a group, typically about five of them. All girls.

Sometimes, those girls would go out of their way to tease, disturb, or even bully the two girls. Not that it always mattered to Pan and Bra, but sometimes it would prove to be quite a bit of a nuisance, and more often than not, ridiculous and petty. Just like this day.

When Pan and Bra were just sitting together, under a tree in the shade, eating their lunch, a cup of drink was thrown towards the girls. The cup hit bra in the head and burst, spilling the contents over her and her outfit.

Bra reacted with a shocked squeal and jumped up, dropping her lunch and turning to see where it had come from. She was upset, embarrassed, and angry. She stared towards Chloe and her friends as they laughed, gaining the attentions of many other school kids who joined in with the laughter. Pan had jumped up beside Bra and was immediately glaring towards Chloe and preparing to run over there, but she went to Bra’s aid first.

**“Are you alright?”** Pan asked, looking over her friend and checking where the cup had landed. Luckily it was only a paper cup so there wouldn’t be any injury, it was only the contents that would cause issues. Bra practically froze and looked over her dress, feeling it.

**“It’s sticky, that was a soda… it’s going to ruin this dress,”** Bra said, getting a little emotional. Pan could sense her friend was getting angry and she was right to, but Bra wouldn’t let her do anything to get herself in trouble. Pan turned back to Chloe, glaring towards the laughing girl and her friends. Pan stepped forward.

**“Can you stop acting like a bitch for once in your life?!”** Pan yelled out, not restraining herself in the language department, even though there’s probably a lot worse that could be said. Chloe seemed genuinely offended and stopped laughing, along with her friends.

**“You hear that, she called me a bitch!”** Chloe yelled, stepping up. The rest of the kids that had drawn their attentions to the situation had grown bored by that point and it was just an argument between the girls now.

**“Actually, I said you were acting like one, but I guess you’re too stupid to see the difference,”** Pan said back, smirking to herself. Chloe grew visible frustrated and started to walk towards the girls. Pan was anticipating an attack and was prepared to fight back if needed, not restraining herself like she should do. Bra noticed this and knew she needed to be Pan’s moral support and stepped between the two girls.

**“Chloe, back off,”** Bra said, doing her best to ease the situation. Chloe stopped and looked at Bra’s ruined dress, laughing to herself and walking away. Bra shook her head and turned back to Pan.

**“Why did you stop her? I’d love to see her try and punch me,”** Pan said, getting amused by the thought of embarrassing Chloe.

**“There’s no sense in us getting in trouble, Pan,”** Bra said, being the voice of reason. She looked down at her dress again and was very annoyed. **“Let’s just go to the bathroom so I can change, can you grab my bag.”**

Pan took hers and Bra’s bags and followed the girl back into the building so she could get out of the ruined dress and into one of the spare outfits that she had in a capsule. Once changed lunch was practically over so the girls headed back to their lockers to put stuff away and head to their next lessons. Chloe and Alice where basically waiting for them but didn’t interact with them. Chloe just stuck her middle finger up at Pan while the girls passed by. It was childish but it managed to get a rise out of Pan.

**“Want me to break that finger?”** Pan asked. Chloe scoffed.

**“Is that a threat?”** Chloe fired back with a question of her own, she believed that Pan was just all talk. Pan shook her head and just went to her locker. Chloe walked over to the two of them and closed Pan’s locker.

**“You mind?”** Pan said, glaring towards the girl. Chloe was doing all she could to get a rise out of them. Bra just sighed and tried to walk away, dragging Pan with her. Chloe stopped Bra by grabbing her bag, causing the blue-haired girl to slip and fall to the ground. Pan immediately turned and pushed Chloe back. **“Just get lost!”**

Pan yelled at Chloe, drawing more attention to the scene as people were passing by. Chloe was clearly angry at being pushed by and moved forward, ready to do something. This time Bra was on the floor so she couldn’t stop anything from happening and Pan was happy to let it happen. Chloe swung her hand and slapped Pan across the face. There was an audible gasp from more than one person around, and something snapped inside Pan. She had expected to stand strong when Chloe finally hit her, but no, it awakened something.

Everything seemed to slow down around Pan and her rage was boiling up inside. She slowly turned back to face Chloe with two parts of her mind telling her what to do. One part saying, ‘help Bra up and get to your next lesson’ and the other part saying, ‘hit her.’ Pan didn’t say anything, she just glared in Chloe’s smug face. Just her face was getting Pan more riled up and she could feel her fist clenching. Chloe smirked, thinking that she had been right, and Pan was all talk. She turned back to Alice.

**“See, I told you she was a worthless liar,”** Chloe scoffed, but as soon as she turned back to face Pan a fist struck her right in the face and knocked the bully onto the ground. Pan punched her. As soon as Chloe hit the ground Pan returned to the present and noticed the crowd that had gathered. Chloe didn’t get up, feeling her face and sobbing a little bit. Bra returned to her feet and stood right next to Pan. The raven-haired girl was starting to feel guilt and embarrassment. She looked around again and noticed that some teachers were approaching, and she started to panic. She turned around, grabbing her bag and practically barged through everyone, rushing outside and flying off away from the school.

Bra stood there at the scene and just looked on down the hall.

**“Oh Pan, you’re going to be in so much trouble,”** she whispered to herself, watching as the teachers arrived on scene.

*

Pan didn’t know where she was flying to, she just wanted to get away from the school, away from that situation, and away from anyone that may be able to easily track her down. She only really knew of one place that was truly hidden away, even if it was known by most everyone that Pan knew: Dende’s Lookout.

She flew up high in the sky and knew that she could keep going until she saw the large structure that hovered in the sky above the land of Korin. She arrived at the Palace and only had one thing on her mind, she just wanted to rest up, let what was left of the day pass her by and then return home to her inevitable scolding.

Dende and Mr. Popo were there to greet her, knowing she was on her way there before she even arrived. They allowed Pan some space to sit and rest until she knew it was right to return home. While up there, Pan managed to doze off for a little bit. The warmth and serenity that high in the sky was odd, yet strong enough to make it easy to relax.

A couple of hours passed by and Pan shot up awake upon feeling a spike in her mind. Something grabbed her attention and she was drawn to it. She rushed to the edge of the lookout and looked down. She wasn’t sure where she was looking, or why, but she was intrigued. It was surprising. Dende had stepped out upon seeing Pan act in such a strange manner.

**“Are you ok, Pan?”** He asked, calmly. Pan turned around, shocked by Dende’s sudden arrival. She looked down and thought about how she could possibly formulate the words.

**“It was… nothing, just a weird dream,”** Pan lied, looking back over the lookout edge again. Dende cocked his head to the side and his brow furrowed. He knew Pan was lying, but he couldn’t see why. The girl turned back to face the Namekian guardian. **“I should probably head back home.”**

**“Ok, have a safe journey,”** Dende said, smiling back at the girl. Pan smiled weakly and jumped off of the lookout, flying back. She descended from above the clouds and blasted through the air towards her home, immediately slowing herself, knowing she didn’t want to get back that quickly, plus her mind couldn’t move on from what she felt.

It was very brief, but something had been there, and Pan was certain it was something. She did her best to push thoughts of that to the back of her head, but then thoughts of her day at school and the coming lecture from her parents came back and she wanted to push those away too. Pan was distracted by a phone call though.

It was from Bra. Pan answered immediately.

**“Hi, sorry for ditching you like that, I just had to get out of there,”** Pan blurted out, not giving Bra a chance to say anything.

**“You don’t need to apologise to me, I understand. If I could have flown out of there with you, I would have, but you needed to be alone. I get it,”** Bra explained, showing that she was just as supportive of her friend as ever. **“But I just need to warn you…”**

**“That I’m in a lot of trouble? Yeah, I figured as much,”** Pan interrupted, adding a little fake chuckle, trying to make the situation at least a little amusing. **“I’m just heading back home now.”**

**“I guess you’re worried about what your Mom and Dad are going to say?”** Bra asked. Pan sighed.

**“I can deal with that, they’ll understand if I just tell them why I did it,”** Pan said, trying to make herself believe that.

**“Well, I can stay on the phone with you until you get home if you want?”** Bra questioned.

**“Thanks, Bra. I appreciate that, but I think I need to try and clear my head, first. I’ll see you tomorrow,”** Pan said. The two said their goodbyes and Pan hung up the phone, looking ahead and continuing to fly along, slowly. It was getting rather late and Pan knew it, yet the lack of communication from her parents showed that they could sense her and knew she was ok. Pan reached out with her senses a little bit and could tell that her mother and father were together. Pan attempted to narrow her senses to try and get a track on what kind of emotion they were feeling but that’s when something else drew attention, again.

Pan immediately looked to the south and stopped flying. It was significantly more intense that before. This time it managed to scare Pan. And the emotion she could feel was more intense than anything she had ever experienced from her senses before. So much anger and sadness. Pan’s own emotions started to reflect what she could sense. A brief growth in her anger was followed by tears in her eyes. She wiped them away, feeling the urge to cry but unsure of why. It worried her.

Pan swallowed, doing her best to push all of those emotions down and carried on flying home, doing her best to ignore the explosive outburst she felt.

She returned home rather quickly after all that and landed down outside the house. Nervous about entering, knowing that she would face both of her parents when she stepped through. She took a deep breath and stepped in. Straight away, Gohan was there to greet her. He was sat on the stairs and looked up as the girl walked in. Pan closed the door gingerly behind her and looked down to the ground.

**“Hi Dad,”** Pan muttered. Gohan sighed.

**“Hi, Pan. You’re home very late,”** He said, quite sternly, but still with a bit of love and care. He wanted Pan to feel comfortable and not like she was really in trouble. It didn’t help that Pan’s emotions were all over the place after what she had experienced on the way over.

**“I needed to be alone for a while,”** Pan replied, snappily, with a hint of attitude. Gohan took notice of that tone.

**“I know about what happened at school today,”** Gohan said, trying to ease towards a friendlier conversation.

**“Obviously…”** Pan muttered. Keeping the attitude, and Gohan didn’t appreciate that.

**“There’s no need for that tone, Pan”** Gohan said, taking a stronger stance with his parental mode. He stood up from the stairs at that point.

**“What tone? Why are you being so cryptic? Of course, you know what happened, why else would you be sat waiting for me?”** Pan burst out, getting annoyed with the situation. She was feeling quite stressed out.

**“I’m sat waiting for you because I need help understanding what happened today, I want to hear your side of the story,”** Gohan said, continuing his attempts to bring the conversation back to being nice and restrained.

**“What happened, happened because I lost control after seeing my friend treated terribly by some girl in my classes, and I really wanted to take her down a peg and when she hit me, I snapped,”** Pan shouted back at her further, her frustration getting the better of her. **“I’m sick of it!”**

Gohan let Pan have her outburst, he could sense the pent-up anger inside. It was mixed with a lot of other emotions and he could tell Pan was having a hard time.

**“I’ve had enough of today, I’m going to bed,”** Pan said, pushing past her dad and hoping to run off to her room but she was stopped by a voice. Her mother’s voice.

**“Pan, wait,”** Videl said, as she stepped into the hallway. The voice was enough to help soothe Pan’s emotions a bit. She was always closer to her mother than her father. Pan turned around to face her mother as the woman walked up the stairs towards her daughter. She could see that Pan had tears welling up in her eyes, but she wasn’t used to seeing her daughter so upset and overwhelmed **. “Whatever happened today, you need to know that you overreacted, and you could have gotten yourself into a lot more trouble.”**

**“I know, Mom. I do. I’m so sorry,”** Pan apologised with more tears in her eyes, but she wasn’t crying. Gohan stepped up again.

**“Pan, I know what it’s like to let your emotions control you and get the better of you. I’ve made that mistake before and it’s led to far worse…”** Gohan said, attempting to approach the situation differently. Pan had been calmed down enough to a point where she understood it more.

**“I know, I’m sorry, Dad,”** Pan said, wiping the tears out of her eyes, confused that there were any in the first place. Videl gave her daughter a hug and a kiss on the head.

**“Now, why don’t you come down for some dinner?”** Videl suggested. Pan shook her head as the hug broke.

**“I’m ok, I don’t really have an appetite. I think I’ll just go to bed,”** Pan said, smiling back at her parents and rushing off to her room. She pushed the door open, closed it behind her and slumped down on her bed. She had certainly had a long day, despite not spending that much of her day in school.

The only thing that continued to play over in her mind was the power surge she had felt. It had been a long time since she felt something as intense as that. Not just the amount of power, but more the emotion that surrounded it. It was so shocking and worrying. Pan couldn’t understand why she connected with it. She desperately wanted to talk to someone about it but believed that someone else would have noticed. She didn’t seem to think it necessary to bring it up. There was nothing more she could do that night. She went to her window and closed her curtains, deciding that the early night was best.


	3. Travel Without Direction

**_Chapter 3: Travel Without Direction_ **

* * *

_Tuesday 19 th September Age 791_

Only a couple of hours had passed since Noca left his village, it was late, or early, depending on how you looked at it. Noca checked his old watch, seeing it was around 3am. He decided there was no point in stopping until he got to the next village over. Back to the Rinjin village. Where he would see Holline again. Checking his watch again as he walked along the path, in the dark, Noca noticed the date. It was just a month until his birthday. It was something that got him thinking about his mother again. They had plans. His birthday was going to be special. Noca found himself getting worked up and emotional again, but he had to brush it off. Ignore it. Keep going.

He needed to find Son Goku.

The only problem with that quest; he had no idea where he was going. He didn’t have a clue where Goku would be or what he would doing. It wasn’t going to be an easy task.

As Noca continued along the path he started to become very aware of the silence of night and it heightened all of his already effective senses. Noca was drawn in by any subtle sound that he heard. The rustle of bushes in the light breeze. An owl in the distance, a bat as it fluttered overhead. Everything was unnerving. Noca had started to become very anxious about where he was and whether or not he was actually safe out there alone. He was familiar with this path. He knew where he was going, but it was different in this deep darkness.

Not to mention that something in Noca’s head was saying he should be worried. There was some sort of disturbance in the area. He knew it was his senses trying to warn him, but the boy just wasn’t sure how to react or deal with the situation. He was unsure he could trust his senses in that moment, especially with his current state of mind and the swirl of emotion he had been through.

There was a heavy rustling from the bushes to Noca’s right and it caused him to step back quickly, setting him right on edge. He froze on the spot and scanned the area. He noticed the bushes were moving, semi-erratically. Something was hidden in there. Noca took a deep breath and moved towards the bush slowly. He started to tremble. He clenched his right hand into a fist as he reached forward with his left. Noca’s attention was fully focussed on the rustling bush and he had narrowed in on figuring out what was hiding from him.

That was until the striking sound of a gunshot in the distance stole his attention away.

Noca sprung to attention and that time his instinct took over and, for the time being, overshadowed his nervousness and fear. Noca started to run towards the sound, reaching the edge of a slight cliff looking down onto one of the smaller local villages. There were lots of lights around the village turning on all at once as Noca figured out he wasn’t the only person that heard the gunshots.

Something bad was definitely going on. Noca jumped down the cliff edge, his instinct continuing to drive his actions. He landed a few feet away from the village and started to walk towards it. Loads of people were flooding into the streets and were drawn to the same thing. Noca moved on into the village and started to mingle in the crowds. As he managed to position himself in a good place two men came bumbling out of a shop, carrying SMGs.

 **“Thanks for the supplies!”** One of them yelled back. He was tall, bald, and well-built, with a bit of a gut. He laughed as he ran towards the village exit. He was followed by another man, a smaller man with a black mohawk, he was also laughing maniacally.

 **“Yeah, thanks. It’s not like they had a choice, Avure!”** He yelled at his ally, continuing to laugh. The two men shot their guns in the air as they headed towards the exit. The crowd had scattered out of fear, but Noca stood strong, for some reason. **“Kid get out of the way! Avure, shoot him!”**

The two men stopped and Avure looked to the smaller man.

 **“Dole, he’s just a kid…”** The larger man said, nervously. Dole was clearly getting frustrated and wanted to rush on.

**“Just push him out of the way!”** Dole shouted as he ran towards Noca, managing to push him to his feet. Compared to the two men, Noca was smaller, and he was just a kid. But he was a Saiyan. Noca got back to his feet and watched after them.

 **“Hey!”** Noca yelled, in anger. Both Avure and Dole stopped in their tracks, looked to each other and turned around to face the boy.

 **“What do you want?”** Dole screeched, getting very frustrated with the delay.

 **“Yeah, you want to fight us?”** Avure asked, chuckling to himself. Noca froze again. He didn’t know what to say and just stared ahead, trying to keep the angry and confident stature. But he couldn’t move.

 **“Come on, kid. Say something!”** Dole screeched again. Noca took a deep breath and stepped forward.

 **“Return whatever you stole from these people!”** Noca demanded.

 **“Or what?”** Dole asked, laughing again. Noca stepped forward again, trying to be intimidating, but he was still just a child in their eyes, and it amused them.

 **“Ah, to hell with this shit!”** Dole yelled as he whipped his gun around and started to unload the magazine in the general direction of the boy. But the young Saiyan managed to dodge every shot and act completely on instinct. He then sprung from his final position and shot towards Dole, but Avure moved in the way and caught Noca in the last minute, pinning him to the ground.

 **“Ha, I got him!”** He chanted, victoriously.

 **“Good for you,”** Dole said, sarcastically and screamed out again. **“Now grab his backpack and let’s get going!”**

Avure looked down and shrugged his shoulders as he took Noca’s bag and push the boy into the dirt before turning and running off with his ally. Noca slowly got himself up, shaking off the dirt and watched as the men ran off.

 **“Hey, give that back!”** Noca shouted, getting very protective over the contents of the bag. The people in the village moved towards Noca to check on him, but he just pushed them away and ran after the duo. **“Give it back, now!”**

It was still pitch black and Noca could barely see as he sprinted along the path, trying to follow the duo. Noca was so focussed on his new mission that he was shocked by the sudden jolt of being held back by something. Noca didn’t get a chance to see what had stopped him but he assumed it was a person.

 **“Get off of me, I need to get my bag!”** Noca yelled, starting to panic.

 **“Save your energy, Saiyan. You’re going to need it,”** An adult male voice said, in a calming fashion. Noca stopped squirming.

 **“How do you know I’m a Saiyan? Who are you?”** Noca asked, as the guy released him from the grip. Noca turned around and got a good look at the person who stopped him. He appeared to be a middle-aged man with shoulder length black hair. And there was the strange sensation that Noca wasn’t feeling any sort of threatening energy from him. There was no unease. Noca’s senses had been getting stronger recently, so this was new. **“Who are you?”**

 **“Android #17, but just call me #17,”** The man said, smirking.

 **“How did you know I was a Saiyan”** Noca asked, keeping himself at a safe distance, unsure of what this man might do.

 **“I’ve met Saiyans before, plus I know they typically have tails,”** #17 answered as he sat down on a rock and kept his eyes on Noca. The boy looked to his tail and back to #17, keeping an uneasy eye on the man. He edged his way around the man and sat on another rock himself. Then something dawned on him.

 **“You know Saiyans, so do you know Son Goku?”** Noca asked, immediately. He didn’t even know if he could trust the man, but this was far too important to him. #17 scoffed as he got more comfortable on the rock.

 **“I do,”** He replied. Noca sat forward.

 **“Do you know where I can find him?”** Noca asked, starting to feel a certain level of satisfaction.

 **“Either Mt Paozu of the 439 Mountain Range, but you’d be safer going to West City. You’d get lost in those mountains,”** #17 answered, clearly not finding issue with sharing that information. This did get Noca thinking about whether or not this man was an ally of Goku’s or perhaps an enemy.

 **“Thank you,”** Noca said, genuinely. No matter what, at least he knew where he had to go now. #17 waved off the thanks as if it was insignificant, but it certainly wasn’t to the boy. **“But I still need to get my backpack…”**

#17 looked over to the boy again and sat up.

 **“Why?”** He asked. Noca looked up. **“What’s so important in it that matters to you?”**

Noca didn’t understand why that question was important, but he knew why his backpack mattered to him.

 **“I have some things from my village, a photo…”** Noca started to explain, showing that he wasn’t up for going further with it. He started to fiddle with his hands and got a bit upset at the prospect of losing those possessions forever. #17 noticed that Noca was getting emotional and he sat forward.

 **“I didn’t get your name,”** #17 said. The boy sniffed and looked up.

 **“I’m Noca,”** the Saiyan answered.

**“Well, Noca. I’ll help you get it back in the morning. Those men will be returning to where they came from, but they’ll still be around. We’ll find them,”** #17 said as he stood up, looking like he was considering something. He looked around and then looked back down to Noca. **“We can set up camp near to the next village, that’s where they’ll be going tomorrow.”**

 **“Why? How do you know this?”** Noca asks, getting a little worried. He hadn’t been given a reason to trust #17 but he felt comfortable around him.

 **“Trust me, I’ve be following these guys and waiting for them to slip up with something. Now I have some help, maybe I can catch them,”** #17 explained to Noca, showing that there was something more to him helping the Saiyan than he was letting on. Noca wanted to press and ask, but also didn’t feel it was right to do so.

 **“Why couldn’t we stay in the village?”** Noca asked. #17 looked away, not paying Noca any attention.

 **“Let’s just say I don’t handle being around other people,”** #17 said, over his shoulder. Noca just silently agreed with the android and started to follow him down the path.

 **“Did you say you were an android earlier, as in a robot?”** Noca asked, needing to know a bit more about who he was allying himself with. #17 chuckled.

 **“Kind of. It’s a bit more complicated than that. I’m more cyborg, part human with some mechanical parts,”** the man explained. Noca nodded along, not really understanding and wondering why someone would have that done. He didn’t feel it was his place to press further. #17 suddenly stopped walking at some point and turned to face Noca. **“Here’s good. We can rest and move at dawn.”**

Noca looked at his watch, noticing that they wouldn’t be getting too much sleep. He groaned and started trying to get himself comfortable on the ground. His first night wasn’t a good one, so far.

 **“I know this probably goes without saying but you might need to fight by my side tomorrow** ,” #17 said.

 **“I’ve never fought against another person before… but I think I can fight,”** Noca mentioned, starting to doubt himself and his own abilities.

 **“It’s ok, you’re a Saiyan so it’s in your genes. You’ll know what to do when you’re faced with danger, just make sure you don’t lose your nerve like you did back there,”** #17 explained, motioning back towards the other village. Noca nodded in response. **“Now, get some rest.”**

Noca turned around and continued trying to get comfortable. Luckily, he was feeling pretty tired already and the warmth of the summer night was enough for him to drift off quickly.

*

Noca was woken up by the sun rising, he knew it was very early, and he hadn’t managed to get much sleep. But since he had started to get a taste of sleep his body wanted him to keep going and lay down again. The sun definitely wouldn’t make that easy. Noca slowly sat up and rubbed his eyes, yawning and stretching. He stood up and looked around. Android #17 didn’t seem to be around. Noca started to walk around, hoping to find him sleeping behind a tree or a rock, but he wasn’t having much luck.

 **“Hey,”** A voice said, from behind Noca. The Saiyan’ initial reaction was one of fear and instinct and he swung around with his fists up, ready to attack, but noticed it was the missing Android.

 **“What the Hell?!”** Noca exclaimed, unable to control his breathing. He wasn’t yet familiar enough with the man to recognise his voice immediately.

 **“Calm down, we need to head on down that path,”** #17 said, quickly getting on to the task at hand and pointing towards Noca’s right. The Saiyan looked towards the path. **“We’ll find those thugs down there.”**

Noca nodded in agreement and let the Android lead the way. Noca stretched one more time before walking on after the Android, but remained back a little bit, not wanting to be right up close with the stranger. Noca wasn’t quite sure why he was still following him anyway.

The Saiyan felt a slight twinge in his head and stopped, looking around like there was something he needed to deal with. There was nothing about, but he felt something. It wasn’t a physical presence, it felt more like emotion. Someone was in pain, and Noca could feel it. He could feel them. He knew them.

Suddenly Noca woke up completely, realising just where he was. He knew what village they had reached.

 **“#17!”** Noca called out as he rushed up to the Android’s side. #17 turned around with his finger to his lips.

 **“Will you shut it?!”** #17 said in a hushed tone. Noca stopped and composed himself.

 **“I’m sorry, I know this village,”** Noca revealed. #17 rolled his eyes.

 **“Good for you,”** he said, turning around to start walking towards the village again. Noca caught up to him again.

 **“It’s not just that. I can sense something… or someone? They’re in trouble,”** Noca continued, hoping #17 would understand, or at least help Noca figure it out. The android turned around again and saw that Noca was rather shaken by what he could feel, as if it was new.

 **“Ok, then we better hurry up,”** #17 said, smirking.

 **_“Let’s see what the boy can do,”_** the android thought to himself. He was about to turn around and walk back towards the village again, but the sudden sound of gun shots rattled through the quiet morning, shaking the local wildlife awake. It also captured Noca’s and #17’s complete attention. Noca froze up for a second but soon took on a determined persona.

 **“No!”** He called out, running off down the path towards the village. #17 didn’t get a chance to stop him or talk some sense into the boy, Noca was too quick. The android knew what happened when a Saiyan got angry and started to act on pure instinct, and he was eager to see it, but he didn’t want Noca to do something far too rash. He rushed to the Saiyan and grabbed him back.

**“There’s no point acting like an idiot, I don’t think anyone has been killed, I’m sure you’d feel it,”** #17 said, attempting his most calming, yet commanding voice. **“Plus, you can’t control your anger or your power yet, so you don’t want to go in there with no plan.”**

Noca started to calm down, but he was still determined to save the people.

 **“You need to train yourself, and it’s something I’d be willing to help with once we’re out of this, but you have to do what I say, ok?”** #17 instructed. Noca looked up at the Android, still feeling his rage and wanting to break free. He closed his eyes, but for a second something shot into Noca’s mind. An image of fire. Lots of fire. Flames engulfed wherever he was and out of the anarchy stepped a single silhouetted figure.

Noca’s eyes shot open and he had suddenly been put back into the moment, but he just stared at Android #17 with fear in his eyes. The Android’s brow furrowed as he tried to contemplate what was going on with the boy.

 **“You ok, kid?”** He asked, more confused than he was worried. Noca blinked a few times and looked down, trying to shake the image out of his mind, but it had been burned right in there.

 **“I don’t know, I have no idea what I just saw…”** Noca muttered, trying to make sense of it. **“It was just fire… it doesn’t matter though, we need to go!”**

Noca pulled away and started back towards the village, although not as rushed as before. He needed to learn to be more calculated. #17 watched after the boy for a second and noted that he needed to ask more about that vision later. He made sure to follow Noca down and remain close.

Once the village came into view, they noticed that there were two familiar men standing down in the village by the entrance. Avure and Dole stood there, together, only Dole had his gun pointed into the air and Avure had his gun pointed to the head of a red-headed girl. Then there were a lot of villagers that had gathered to try and do something about the commotion. They were all far too disturbed and scared though.

**“Alright! You’re gonna give us access to everything you have! Money, food, supplies, and then we’ll give you this little red-head back,”** Dole said, yelling and cackling maniacally. An older man stepped forward, holding his hands up to show he had no weapons.

**“Please, don’t hurt her, she hasn’t done anything wrong!”**

**“We’re the ones making the demands! Give us your stuff!”** Dole screeched back. Noca’s inner rage started to grow again, but he was trying to do his best to ignore it and focus on doing things in a more calculated and precise way. Until he noticed that the hostage was indeed the person he was most concerned for; Holline.

 **“They have her, they have Holline!”** Noca muttered. He stood up and prepared to rush into the village.

 **“Don’t do it kid,”** the Android ordered, standing up to try and grab the boy but Noca had already jumped down and rushed towards the criminals. Noca made sure to move in quietly and get as close to the two of them as he could.

 **“Hey!”** He called out. Avure turned around, still holding on to Holline, but he was shocked by a sudden fist into his face. The larger man was knocked to the ground, the red head falling by his side. Dole turned around.

 **“What the hell was that? Wait, it’s that kid!”** Dole screamed, getting a little worried after seeing that the boy had managed to knock down his ally.

 **“That hurt…”** Avure muttered as he stood up. **“Can we kill them yet?”**

 **“No, Omega wouldn’t want that!”** Dole yelled at his comrade.

 **“Omega?”** #17 questioned as he stepped up beside Noca. Both were glaring towards the two criminals who looked very scared by that point. They appeared to know #17.

 **“You again?!”** Dole asked.

 **“Yeah. Me. And I knew you were working for Omega. Who is he?”** #17 asked, seemingly like he really had been following up on these two for some time. Noca didn’t take his eyes off the two of them, not even taking in any of what was being said.

 **“How do you know Omega?”** Dole asked again, his panic continuing to grow. #17 chuckled.

 **“Why would I tell you that?”** #17 said, smirking as he stepped forward. **“I just know he took an interest in Androids, like me.”**

Both Dole and Avure froze upon hearing that.

 **“You… are an Android?”** Dole asked, laughing nervously. #17 smirked and stepped forward, in front of Noca. The Saiyan moved to try and get a visual on what would happen but that’s when he noticed Holline again. He finally dropped into reality and rushed over to his friend. She hadn’t been able to move, clearly frozen from fear. It was a horrible situation for the girl to be in. Noca dropped by her side and she panicked slightly reacting by throwing her arms up, Noca managed to stop her though.

 **“Hey, don’t worry, it’s me!”** He said, trying to get her to look at him properly. She stopped and stared at him for a second before hugging him and holding on to him.

 **“Oh, thank God!”** Holline whispered into her friend’s chest. She then pulled away. **“What are you doing here?”**

 **“I’ll have to tell you later, right now we need to get you somewhere safe,”** He helped her back to her feet and rushed towards the big crowd. She rushed into the arms of the older man, who was her grand-father and Noca turned back to face the criminals and his new android ally. Holline noticed that.

 **“What are you doing?”** She asked, stepping up again. **“Tell me what’s going on!”**

 **“I will, just not now, I need to help #17,”** Noca told her, but turned back to face the criminals again. **“First I need to get something back from them.”**

Noca moved forward and #17 noticed immediately.

 **“No, Noca. You stay back and keep them safe,”** The Android commanded. **“I want to find out everything I can from these guys first. This is important.”**

 **“You won’t get anything from us!”** Avure called out.

 **“Yeah! Now, why don’t you piss off?”** Dole followed up. #17 laughed, crossing his arms in front of his chest.

 **“And I thought we could have a polite conversation here. You don’t want to cross someone who has the ability to kill you with a flick of their finger,”** #17 taunted, knowing his abilities were far superior to theirs. Dole stood strong, despite being the smaller, but Avure turned to him.

 **“Maybe we should retreat…”** The larger criminal said, clearly getting a bit worried about what violence might happen.

 **“No! Let’s kill this guy!”** Dole screamed in a rage, lifting his SMG and proceeding to unload the magazine in #17’s direction. All the villagers turned away, not wanting to see what happened to the mysterious man standing up to those criminals. Neither Noca, nor Holline, turned away from the action though. Much to their surprise, #17 was completely unharmed by the attack.

 **“Ouch,”** #17 said in a monotone style, **“I’m in so much pain. But is it my turn yet?”**

Both the criminals turned to face one another.

 **“Ok. We can run now,”** Dole said, no longer confident of his ability to kill the Android. Both of them tried to sprint past #17 but the black-haired man swiftly moved grabbing both of the men and thrusting them down into the dirt.

 **“Now, tell me about this Omega,”** #17 requested, getting serious.

 **“He’s a scientist… planning to set up some sort of base of operations here in the mountains, we are just working with him to help collect supplies. Honestly, we don’t know anything more than that,”** Avure blurted out, getting a bit too scared. Dole turned to face his ally with his mouth open.

 **“Why don’t you just tell him where you were born!?”** Dole yelled at his partner. Avure seemed nervous and didn’t have any more to say.

 **“That can’t be all you know,”** #17 said, getting their attentions back. **“You seemed to worry when you found out I was an android, meaning you know something about androids and Omega’s connection to them.”**

Neither of them said anything. #17 wasn’t happy.

**“Tell me!”**

Both of them winced when #17 yelled, but they weren’t given a chance to say anything as a voice from behind #17 cleared their throat. The Android stopped and turned around. There was a man standing there. He was about average height for an adult, he seemed to hold himself to a high standard. A clean, ironed grey suit. Combed silver hair, and a smart pair of glasses.

 **“Android’s are fascinating, don’t you think,”** the man said. He spoke in a very educated and posh style. He was clearly a man of high class and seemed to be intelligent. It wasn’t quite what #17 had expected. **“I haven’t seen you in a long time, Lapis.”**

 **“What did you call me?”** #17 stepped forward, getting very angry at hearing his real name uttered by the man he had been hunting.

**“Oh, my apologies. You must prefer to be called Android #17. Although you’re not really an Android, are you? You’re a cyborg,”** The man said, smirking. #17 clenched his fists and wanted to attack, but he needed information.

 **“How do you know my name!?”** #17 demanded to know. The man chuckled.

**“I should probably introduce myself, I am Omega,”** the man finally revealed, **“Former ally of Dr. Gero, and like the great scientist himself, I am also an Android.”**


	4. Omega

**_Chapter 4: Omega_ **

* * *

Silence filled the air. An uneasy silence. Android #17 stood several metres ahead of the man known only as Omega, and he stared him down with a questioning intensity. There was information that needed to be explained. Who was Omega really? Noca stood with the people of the village and looked from Omega, and back to #17. There was no telling what would happen next. Noca was just as eager to find out what was going on as #17 was.

**“You’re an android too?”** #17 finally asked, taking the initiative. Omega smirked and chuckled to himself. **“What do you know of Dr. Gero?”**

**“More than you. I worked as his assistant for many years. I learned so much about robotics from the fantastic scientist. His work with cyborgs such as yourself is unrivalled, still to this day,”** Omega said, clearly speaking fondly of the good Doctor’s scientific genius. **“It’s a pity he liked to steal ideas from humble little assistants, like myself.”**

**“Look, I don’t really care what kind of ideas the Doctor stole from you, he died by my hand after converting himself into an android,”** #17 explained, proud of himself for that past action, but disappointed that his ties to the former Red Ribbon Army scientist hadn’t disappeared altogether yet.

**“You see, the idea to take the brains of real people and put them into robotic bodies was initially mine. Before that the Doctor had just been toying with cybernetic parts inside real people, as well as some rudimentary robotics, I was going to revolutionise his idea for what soldiers should be,”** Omega explained, smiling about his own brilliance, but that faded to show a clear annoyance. **“The doctor couldn’t bear the thought of being upstaged by a younger man; he stole my ideas.”**

**“Poor you,”** #17 responded, clearly not caring. **“That doesn’t seem to have stopped you from harming the lives of ordinary people and turning yourself into an android.”**

Noca noticed that while #17 had been keeping himself away from people he did have some sort of care for them in there. The Saiyan thought his new ally had been doing this all for personal gain, and while he did have a personal connection to this strange man, or android, he was getting himself involved to protect the people. It was admirable.

**“I have turned myself into an android, and I want to make it so these people don’t remain ordinary forever. I want to show the world that with my brilliant expertise and all the new things I’ve learned, I can change the world,”** Omega explained, getting excited about the thought of his own ideas. #17’s brow furrowed, and he stepped forward.

**“What do the people of these mountain villages offer you?”** #17 yelled, asking his question in a demanding nature. Omega sort of flinched at the act of aggression from the black-haired android. **“Why decide to show yourself now? I’ve been tracking these brutes of yours for some time, and only now do you step forward and show yourself. Why?”**

Both Avure and Dole were offended by being called brutes but knew that #17 had already made sure they hit the dirt once and he was more than capable of doing it again.

**“I heard that my men were drawing some unwanted attention. I only just started to monitor the situation and,”** Omega chuckled as he thought about it, **“Not only did I learn of the existence of one of Gero’s android fighters, but he happens to have allied himself with a Saiyan boy.”**

Omega looked to Noca and the boy froze up, not expecting himself to be drawn into this conflict, especially not because of his species. Holline looked to Noca, concerned for her friend.

**“My scientific curiosity got the better of me and I had you see you both for myself,”** Omega said, his eyes still lingering on the Saiyan. He turned to look back at #17. **“My friend, I just want to make the world a better place. Cyborgs, Androids, I believe that all people deserve to have their lives enhanced. I want to see that happen.”**

**“And you think that makes you, what, some kind of God?”** #17 questioned, stepping forward again. Omega appeared to tense up a little bit, #17 noticed that. **“Do you fear me?”**

**“It’s not that I feel fear,”** Omega said nervously, **“I just understand that Gero made you to be strong, powerful, a fighter. I’m intelligent. I converted myself into an android so I could live forever.”**

**“Well, I’ll make sure that doesn’t happen,”** #17 mentioned. Omega chuckled.

**“Are you threatening me?”** He asked. #17 started to walk forward again. This time going towards the self-proclaimed ‘intelligent’ android. Omega started to pull back. #17 stopped right in front of him, Omega was basically shaking, concerned about how #17 might choose to use his abilities.

**“Take your friends and leave. Pack-up whatever base you have, before I get there,”** #17 said, making his threat very clear that time. Noca snapped his attention to #17 and wanted to say something, remind him about his bag that was still in their possession, but he had to believe that the android had a plan. He remained quiet as Omega started to back away.

**“Avure, Dole. Let’s leave,”** Omega called out to his allies. The two men walked back away from #17 as well, following their leader out of the village. #17 stood and watched them leave, speeding up as they got further away. That was remarkably easy, but it wasn’t over.

Noca rushed up to #17.

**“What do we do now?”** Noca asked, ready to go right away.

**“Don’t rush yourself. We need to make sure we know exactly where they’re going. I’ll follow them,”** #17 explained. Noca was about to protest but he turned back to face the Saiyan. **“I won’t engage them just yet. I’ll just find where they’re headed, then I’ll come back for you.”**

**“But, what should I do?”** Noca asked, clearly wanting to feel useful.

**“Make sure the people are ok,”** #17 instructed as he instantly took to the sky to get a bird’s-eye view of the area. Noca was thrown off by the ease in which #17 shot up into the sky and he turned back to the people, but Holline had instantly rushed over to him and threw her arms around him in a hug.

**“Oh my God, that was so scary, Noca!”** She muttered to him, trying to keep herself calm. She pulled out of the hug, **“What are you doing here? Why did you rush off yesterday?”**

Noca opened his mouth, but nothing came out. He wasn’t sure he could say it out loud right away. All of the commotion he had dealt with since the major events of the previous day had taken precedence over everything else in his mind. For a brief moment, he was sent back into the events. The fire. The frantic actions of the villagers. The silhouette. His mother. Noca looked to the ground and started breathing a little heavier than before.

**“I…”** Noca was about to explain himself, he really was, but he was so glad when the interruption came. #17 dropped down by his side, shocking Holline and bringing Noca back to the moment.

**“Kid, we gotta go now,”** #17 commanded. Noca looked to his new ally and then back to his friend.

**“Right. Holline, I’ll be back, and we’ll talk then. I have to go with him right now,”** Noca explained, placing his hands on her shoulders and doing his best to give his friend a reassuring smile. Holline could see pain in his eyes though. She just nodded and smiled weakly as Noca turned around and rushed off with the Android.

**“Be careful!”** She called after them.

Noca and #17 rushed on along the path together, the young Saiyan was eager to fight back against these strange criminals and get back what belonged to him. He needed to prove himself somehow. He wasn’t sure why he felt that way. Suddenly a new determination had washed over Noca and he was focused on more than just his quest to find Son Goku. He wanted to get his stuff back and show these criminals just what he could do, even he wasn’t yet sure what it was he could do.

#17 could see the determination in Noca’s eyes and thought to himself about how the boy’s abilities could best be utilised in this interaction or going forward after this little mission. The two of them remained silent as the reached a clearing where there were two paths branching off to the left and right. Noca looked down both paths and then to #17, ready to ask where next, but the Android was looking straight ahead with a smirk on his face. Noca followed #17’s eyes and saw what the Android had spotted.

There was an opening in the rocks. Quite a large opening at that, but it appeared to just be some sort of cave. Noca was sceptical of what this meant but #17 started to walk forward, indicating that he was certain of this. Noca stood still, not sure what to make of the situation and found that his previous confidence and determination was replaced with a slight anxiety. He wasn’t sure he could do it. He swallowed and put on a brave face, walking up to #17 as he stepped inside the cave.

As they both stepped inside, blocking the light from outside, there was a clicking sound and the cave was illuminated by lightbulbs strung up along the cave walls. The wires appeared to go in and out of the walls. Noca stepped up to one of the lights and looked closer. #17 walked along down the cave which seemed to go deep.

**“They’ve been here a while,”** #17 muttered, stopping and trying to look ahead into the darkness. Noca looked back to the Android.

**“How can you tell?”** The Saiyan asked, not yet seeing the obvious.

**“Look at the lights again, the wires have been hidden inside the walls,”** #17 stated. Noca looked back to the light and noticed that #17 was right. **“That isn’t an overnight job, not for a whole cave.”**

**“He did seem like a tidy person,”** Noca mentioned as he stepped up beside #17 again. The Android looked down at the Saiyan, inquisitively.

**“Meaning?”** #17 questioned.

**“The suit he wore looked recently cleaned and ironed, no mess on him, but they operate in this cave,”** Noca explained, looking up to #17 and smirking, **“caves aren’t exactly clean. Maybe he likes things clean and hidden, maybe it’s vanity.”**

#17 just nodded, he was silently pleased that Noca made that connection himself. There was hope for him, maybe he wasn’t as naïve as he let on. The android continued along without saying anything else, until they noticed that the sound inside the cave appeared to change. It wasn’t as echoed as before, there was less reverb around them.

The android stopped and looked down, noticing that the floor was less dusty, and started to look more manufactured. #17 looked ahead again.

**“They have a lab in here, we need to be careful. There could be weapons or traps,”** #17 instructed as he started to move in, a bit more cautiously. As they continued on, the duo noticed that the cave was becoming wide and much more well-lit. More effort had been done the further in they were, meaning that #17 was right about there being a hidden lab or something. Eventually, the two of them fell upon a large door blocking their path. There didn’t appear to be any cameras around, and there was a small control panel on the door. It would likely be password and DNA protected.

**“What do we do now?”** Noca asked, letting his nerves get a hold of him. He stepped back, worried about what could be waiting for them behind that door. #17 looked back at Noca and smirked.

**“We’re going to need to bust the door down, take them by surprise,”** the android suggested, his smirk still strong. Noca’s eyes went wide. He wasn’t a fan of that idea.

**“Couldn’t we find another way in?”** Noca asked.

**“I don’t think there is another way,”** #17 said, with a light chuckle, **“We have to go in all guns blazing.”**

**“But…”** Noca started.

**“You’ll be fine, kid,”** #17 cut him off. He raised his hand up to the door and began to increase his Ki. Noca winced and looked away out of fear but heard nothing after a few seconds. He opened his eyes and looked up to the Android. #17 was standing right by the door. He slammed his hand into the control panel, causing it to malfunction, then the door opened.

Noca’s brow furrowed as he stepped up beside the android.

**“I’m not stupid, they built their lab in a cave, it’s not like the tech would be in perfect condition,”** #17 explained. Noca chuckled nervously and looked ahead as the door opened to reveal a hallway. **“Guess they’re further in. Time to sneak.”**

They two started to move in slowly, and quietly. They eventually rounded a corner and could hear the commanding voice of Omega echoing through the halls. #17 put his finger to his lips and looked to Noca, signalling for him to be quiet and then waved forward for them to carry on. They came into a much larger room where there were lots of boxes and a couple of weird looking tubes filled with water, one of them appeared to have something else inside. Noca looked around, trying to take it in but he had never seen that much complicated technology in his life. It almost scared him. #17 had moved further in, leaving Noca behind, so he could hear them better.

**“Hurry up, Avure! Get that packed up, and take this,”** Omega was saying, he appeared to have a frantic and nervous tone in his own voice. #17 had certainly managed to strike a chord. **“You and Dole need to take this to Dazir. He will know what needs to be done.”**

**“Oh, not that creepy old fool,”** Dole groaned, as something heavy slammed to the ground.

**“Just listen to me!”** Omega yelled back at them. #17 glanced around the bit of equipment he was hiding behind and noticed they were capsulizing some of their equipment and machinery and packing it away inside a brief case that Omega was holding. **“I will continue doing what I can back at HQ, you two still have a mission.”**

#17 was starting to make a plan for what he would do next. It needed to be a smart move and catch them off-guard. That is what would be the most effective idea. #17 was just getting a plan in mind when the machinery he was hiding behind disappeared as it was capsulized. The capsule fell to the ground in front of him and the Android looked up to see Avure standing there. The man stared down, not knowing what to say. He just let out a strange growl as he pointed at #17.

**“Hi,”** #17 said, awkwardly as he grabbed the capsule and kicked Avure back into the centre of the room. He pressed the capsule down and threw it to Avure. The man caught it and went wide-eyed as the machinery revealed itself again, popping out and knocking Avure back towards the other side of the room, crashing through some boxes. Dole and Omega turned to see #17 standing there with a smirk on his face. **“You guys still here.”**

**“No, Avure! Get up!”** Dole yelled as he ran to his ally. Omega rushed to the weird tubes and pressed a button. Everyone looked as the tube started to drain of the liquid, revealing a body inside. #17 instantly knew it was an android. He looked to see where Noca was. The Saiyan was still hiding behind something.

**“Avure, Dole, get out of here!”** Omega commanded as he pressed another few buttons and the lights started to flash red. Omega grabbed his briefcase and ran for the exit with his allies.

**“No, you don’t!”** #17 yelled out as he went to move towards Omega but the person inside the weird tube burst out, rushing straight towards #17 and throwing him down into the ground. #17 looked towards where Omega and his allies had gone as a large door slammed shut, with them on the other side. They got away. #17 cursed, kicking the large android off of him. The figure fell against the wall and glared back to #17. This new android was tall, bulky, and bald. There were no real defining features about him.

#17 moved into a stance ready to fight him, then he heard a voice. It came from the speakers and clearly belonged to a computer.

**“The Self-Destruct sequence has been activated. Countdown set to Five Minutes.”**

#17 cursed again.

**“Noca, see if you can find your things, then we need to get out of here!”** #17 yelled out. The Saiyan looked around and started to move to find his bag. The new android looked to where Noca had gone and his attention had been gripped by something new. **“Oh no you don’t!”**

#17 jumped and flew straight towards the Android, punching him in the head, knocking the android off of his feet and straight into the wall. Noca continued to rummage around as the two androids were fighting. It wasn’t easy, he just had to hope that the others had left his bag sitting in a corner or something.

Meanwhile, #17 continued to do his best to fight this new android and keep him away from Noca, but whatever technology had gone into creating this android was new because #17 was finding it a little difficult. The android just kept getting back up and continued to smash things up in front of him, rushing into #17.

Their time continued to tick down with the computer alerting them when they were four minutes. #17 made a mental note of it and continued to hold the big android at bay. Noca was finding things very difficult. The lab had become a mess and the flashing red-lights weren’t helping. His vision was practically impaired by everything going on. He was in a panicked state.

The computer reached three minutes.

**“Have you found it yet?”** #17 called out after kicking the android in the head and dropping back to the ground.

**“Not yet!”** Noca called back.

**“Well, hurry up!”** #17 shouted back, as he jumped up avoiding a slammed down attack from the android. #17 landed and threw his hands forward, firing out an energy wave, pushing the android back towards the wall, doing his best to hold him at bay. #17 managed to navigate himself so he moved closer to the door, ready to burst out as soon as Noca was ready to go.

**“Two minutes remaining,”** the computer said.

Noca threw a few boxes to the side and saw his old bag sitting there, trapped under a fallen piece of machinery. He rushed over and started to try and pull it out, but the machinery was very heavy. Noca strained as best he could to move it and get it out from under there. #17, meanwhile, had broken off from his attack on the android and turned to face the large door, blasting it open with a powerful blast, before turning back and holding the android back again.

**“Noca! Have you found it?”** He asked again. Noca was straining to move the pipes and stuff that had collapsed in, but he was getting nowhere. It was tough. He wasn’t strong enough. So much was going on. He was panicking.

**“One-minute remaining.”**

**“NOCA!!”** #17 yelled.

Noca reacted, his senses coming to life and his mind becoming focussed. He started to do his best to lift up the machinery and was making better progress. There was a sudden burst in strength and energy, and it was easy. He threw it back and grabbed his bag, throwing it over his shoulder. He jumped up over some pipes and #17 saw him.

**“I got it, go!”** Noca yelled back. #17 broke the blast and turned around, jumping through the doorway he had created and began to rush along the hallway. Noca followed, jumping over things, not noticing what was happening behind him. The android had gathered the energy #17 was using and threw it into the ceiling. Rocks and rubble collapsed down, causing Noca to back up and jump away to avoid being hit. He wasn’t close to the door any longer.

**“Thirty seconds remaining.”**

Noca turned around, unsure of what to do next. He saw the android stepping towards him, a menacing look on his face. Noca was scared of what would happen next. He needed to move. He couldn’t sit there. All the anger, anxiety, and fear inside him started to mix together and it brought life to something within him. He jumped forward towards the android, kicking him in the head and throwing him back into the wall. Noca landed back to his feet and turned around.

**“Ten seconds.”**

He had to go.

**“Nine.”**

He started to run for the exit.

**“Eight.”**

There was so much debris in his way.

**“Seven.”**

There was no way out.

**“Six.”**

Was this really how he was about to die.

**“Five.”**

No.

**“Four.”**

Noca stepped back, eyes still on the exit.

**“Three.”**

He would need to be quicker than ever before, but right now it felt like his instincts were in complete control.

**“Two.”**

His aura started to flare up around him, Noca didn’t have any time to be shocked or surprised by it. He started his run.

**“One.”**

He just managed to reach the door.

**“Zero.”**

BOOM!!

The entire cave exploded with a thunderous roar that surely everyone in the nearby villages would have heard. #17 had managed to get to a safe distance and get himself behind cover. He looked around as smoke and debris flew out of the cave, hoping to see Noca around nearby somewhere. Nothing. The android stood up and walked back towards the cave, sighing and looking to the ground. He felt ashamed at getting the kid into that situation. It was dangerous and he should have stayed to help him. He only thought about himself in that moment and he was feeling the guilt.

He looked back up to the cave again and noticed something. A silhouette in the smoke. It was just a blob of dark, but it was definitely moving. It couldn’t be him, could it? #17 walked towards the cave again and noticed that Noca had survived. He stepped out of the smoke and fell to the ground, unconscious, with cuts and dirt all over him. #17 rushed to his side and lifted him up, noticing that Noca would need some sort of medical attention, and quickly. He turned, making sure to keep Noca’s bag close to them and he flew back to the village right away.

Up on a ridge, away from the scene, and trio of people stood, observing. Omega, Avure, and Dole were fine. Omega wasn’t happy. His lab gone. His android more than likely destroyed in the wreckage, and the other two survived.

**“You two need to go find Dazir and the others right away. Get the next part of the plan in motion. That boy is worth a lot to me,”** Omega stated.

**“Are you sure?”** Avure asked, nervously.

**“Positive, tell Shai and Zala to move on with the next stage, now go,”** Omega followed up. He didn’t look back at Avure and Dole as they awkwardly stepped away, walking on down the mountainous path. Omega remained on the ridge, looking back at his cave. He slowly started to walk back towards it.

*

#17 returned to the village, where Holline stood waiting, anxiously. Upon seeing one figure approaching she was initially upset and worried but noticed that the strange man was carrying Noca. Wait, Noca was in pain! Holline ran over to them as #17 set Noca down on the ground and stood away. Holline dropped by his side.

**“Oh no, Noca!”** She practically screamed, sobbing down on her friend. A couple of adults rushed over but were wary of being near #17, especially after seeing the state of Noca. The android noticed they were looking at him strangely.

**“I didn’t do this to him, now get him somewhere to rest!”** #17 yelled, clearly sounding a little worried for the boy. Holline looked up at him and stood up.

**“We can take him to my house,”** She suggested. #17 nodded and lifted Noca up, letting the red-headed girl lead the way. They quickly made it to her house, Holline led #17 up the stairs to her bedroom and they laid Noca down on the bed. #17 placed a hand on his head for a second, as if checking something. Holline watched, nervously.

**“When he wakes up make sure he cleans himself up, he’ll recover from these injuries without issue,”** #17 stated. Holline’s brow furrowed.

**“How? He looks in bad shape,”** She questioned.

**“He’s fine. His Saiyan genes are to thank for that,”** #17 explained. Holline was going to say something else, not knowing why #17 knew about Saiyans, but she decided not to. She was a little scared of this man. #17 stepped away from Noca and walked to the door.

**“You’re leaving?”** She asked, feeling concerned about the whole situation. She still had no idea what was going on.

**“I don’t have anything else to do here. I saved your village from those guys, and I helped Noca get his bag,”** #17 said, finally setting the bag down on the ground. **“Now I need to continue my mission.”**

**“So, you’re just going without saying bye to him?”** She questioned. #17 scoffed and turned back to look at Noca again.

**“He’ll understand,”** the android said, leaving without saying another thing. He stepped outside and just casually walked out of the village. He didn’t even decide to fly away. He had too much on his mind.

**_“You’re a strange one, Noca. I’m sure there’s something about you that’s worth sticking around for, but you have your own mission. Besides, this isn’t the last you’ve seen of me. There’s no way you’re making it all the way to West City on your own.”_** He thought to himself as he went back into the mountains.

A few hours later, after some rest, Noca awoke. He was aching all over and coughed up, with his lungs feeling like they were severely depleted of oxygen. Holline rushed to his bedside with a glass of water.

**“You’re awake, thank God!”** She said, handing him the glass of water. Noca took a sip and then started to cough a little. He didn’t quite understand the state he was in, but he calmed down rather quickly and started to remember everything clearly. He continued to sip at the water and set it down on the table.

**“Thanks,”** He said, taking a deep breath and getting himself back to a normal state. He stood up, Holline immediately rushed to his side to help him, but he was fine. **“Can I stay here tonight?”**

Holline perked up, a wide smile forming on her face.

**“Of course, you can!”**

**“Cool. Thank you, I’ll be off again tomorrow anyway** ,” Noca responded as he walked over to his bag to make sure everything was still there.

**“Ok… but why do you have a bag? Where are you going?”**

**“I…”** Noca started, as he closed up his bag. He was about to tell her but after everything that had happened in the day he was dropped back into his own reality. Everything about why he was there returned to his mind. He remembered everything about the day prior and his emotions were worked up again. He didn’t want to dump all of that on his best friend. He wasn’t ready to talk about it. **“I’ll have to talk to you about it tomorrow. I just need to relax after today.”**

**“Ok, you did go through a lot, just by the look of you,”** Holline joked. Noca smirked up at her and then thought about something else.

**“#17 left?”** He asked. Holline looked at him inquisitively then realised he was talking about his friend, the strange man.

**“Oh, yeah, the man. He left after dropping you off,”** she told him. Noca sighed and looked back down at his bag. **“What’s wrong?”**

**“I didn’t get to thank him for helping me,”** Noca said, trailing off. It didn’t matter. #17 didn’t seem to be the guy to stick around for thanks. It was a strange encounter, but it happened and now he needed to move on and continue with the next thing.

Noca looked at the photograph of he and his mother again and tried to hide the tears in his eyes. Holline couldn’t know, at least not until Noca was ready to come to terms with it himself. As he put the photo back, he noticed a faint orange glow from in his bag, coming from the weird charm his village elder had given him. He just closed up the bag, ignoring it. He went to go wash up and change into a clean set of casual clothing, then he let Holline take him downstairs for something to eat.

He needed to get into some sort of activity that would help him dip into a normal life, even if just for a little bit.


	5. An Ordinary Day Out

**_Chapter 5: An Ordinary Day Out_ **

* * *

_Tuesday 19 th September Age 791_

Being back in school was a little awkward for Pan. That morning she woke up to her parents in a happy and enthusiastic mood, helping to lift her spirits and wipe away any anxiety she had about facing the consequences of her actions towards Chloe. Not that she though she should get away with it, she had performed a violent action while at school, and then just left without saying another thing. She understood if her teachers decided she needed to be punished, but Pan was just thankful that her parents did what they could to ease her into the day.

She had breakfast at the table with her family, as per usual, and then went off to meet up with Bra so they could head to school together. The blue-haired girl was a little worried about how Pan would act but was relieved that her best friend was in a positive mood. That positivity was shaken a little bit when they finally arrived at school, with Pan doing her best to stealth her way through the school and get into her lessons without bumping into the Principal, or Chloe and her friends. Unfortunately, Pan did still share classes with the girls, but there was a confidence in believing that Chloe wouldn’t want to antagonise the girl again. Not right away.

Pan did find enjoyment when she saw Chloe’s face and noticed the brand-new black eye she had. While the damage was still present on Chloe’s face, Pan knew she had no reason to worry about any new conflicts. It would serve as a strong enough reminder.

The first half of the day was pretty long and boring, aside from something that sparked alive in Pan’s mind, reminding her of the night before. Reminding her of what she had felt. That energy, that emotion. There it was again. It was starting to get on her nerves. Out of nowhere this had started happening to her and she wasn’t sure why, but it was almost as if her own emotions were being affected by what she could sense. There was an urge to talk about it, to let someone know just what she was going through. Nobody would understand it.

With those thoughts and feelings on her mind, the day seemed to drag by slower. It didn’t make sense, you would think that with a pre-occupied mind the day would flash by for her, but the annoyance and confusion that it delivered only caused everything to slow down. Eventually, it was lunch time and Pan found herself taking her food out of her locker and walking outside with Bra. The two of them sat down together but Pan was still in another world. Even the task of trying to avoid teachers wasn’t something she cared about any longer, her mind was far too distracted.

**“Yo, Earth to Pan,”** Bra said, her voice bringing Pan back into the moment. She shook herself away from her thoughts and looked over to her friend. **“You alright?”**

This posed a dilemma for Pan. Should she tell Bra? Would she even care, let alone believe her? Bra was always a good friend and was always there to listen when Pan needed to talk, and vice-versa. She could trust her friend with the information, that wasn’t part of the question. It was just whether or not she would understand it. There was no harm in it.

**“I keep feeling something,”** Pan muttered, her nerves almost stopping her. She didn’t even know if what she said made sense to Bra, but it was the only way she could think to describe it. At least, that was the simplest way to say it. Pan looked up to see that Bra did have a questioning expression on her face, but she could tell that it meant Bra wanted Pan to continue, carry on with what she needed to say. Pan sighed. **“I think I’m feeling someone’s power level.”**

**“It’s probably someone we know,”** Bra suggested. Pan shook her head.

**“No, it’s not. It’s unfamiliar, yet…”** Pan trailed off, looking away in thought.

**“Yet…”** Bra said, trying to grab Pan’s attention back to the conversation. She leaned forward so that she was in Pan’s peripheral vision. The black-haired girl turned back to her friend.

**“I feel like I know it. The energy, I mean,”** Pan said, feeling like she needed to clarify. **“It’s so weird but I feel what they’re feeling…”**

Pan trailed off again. Bra could see hurt in her best friend’s eyes. She couldn’t put her finger on why that was but could only assume that Pan was being completely truthful with her. She really felt something, and it was more than just a power level. Pan breathed a heavy sigh and blinked a couple of times as her eyes started to water a bit. She did her best to hide any sign of tears, or sadness.

**“They are in so much pain, and they need comfort,”** Pan continued. Bra sat back a little, trying to think over the information. She was analysing all data and trying to find something that might be important or necessary to help her friend. Pan could tell Bra was just over-thinking everything and grabbed her friend’s attention back. **“Forget about it, Bra. It’s nothing.”**

Bra look back at Pan and smiled weakly.

**“Ok, if that’s what you want,”** Bra said, **“Just let me know if it keeps occurring. Don’t hold it in.”**

Pan nodded and wore her own weak smile. Trying her best to move on from all of those thoughts. From her lunch break onwards, she pretty much felt nothing more, until near the end of the day when there was something in her that made her feel like she needed to get something off of her chest, but she knew there was nothing. It didn’t take her long to realise that it wasn’t her own thoughts or feelings. They belonged to the owner of this new energy that she was connected to.

It wasn’t far from her thoughts for the rest of the school day. She was completely distracted from her schoolwork, meaning she had extra homework to deal with that night. That didn’t matter to her though, for some reason this energy still mattered. She was developing an emotional connection with someone that was nowhere near her, and it was someone she didn’t even know. That scared her. She found herself staring out of the window right up until the bell went for the end of the day. She snapped back into the moment and realised the day was over.

The girls grabbed their stuff, went back to their lockers and left the school. The day was over, they had the rest of the afternoon and evening to do whatever they wanted. Pan made a mental note of the homework she would need to do when she got back home, or to Capsule Corp., wherever she decided to go after her weird day.

She didn’t get a chance to make her own decision though. There was a phone-call from her Mother which took precedence over anything else.

**“Hey Mom, I’m just out of school. What’s up?”** She asked, hoping that it wasn’t anything bad.

**“Are you free right now?”** Videl asked. Pan brushed aside the thoughts of doing her homework and mentally freed up all her plans.

**“I am, I’m with Bra at the moment,”** Pan answered, looking over to her friend. Bra seemed intrigued.

**“Do you want to come and meet me? I’m in Satan City Mall with my old school friend, Erasa,”** Videl asked. Pan immediately sensed a slight excitable tone in her mother’s voice. She had not seen her best friend in a long time and Pan had heard a lot about her. She had only met Erasa a couple of times though.

**“Sure, Bra and I will head right over there,”** Pan said, looking to Bra again. The blue-haired girl put both her thumbs up with a smile. Pan shook her head. **“I’ll see you soon, bye.”**

Pan hung-up the phone.

**“We’re meeting my mom at the Mall, she’s with an old friend,”** Pan said as the girls started to walk along down the street in the direction of the mall. Bra mentioned that she had been wanting to head there to pick something up for a few days but kept putting it off. Pan was pretty much nodding along to that conversation, occasionally dropping in with a one-word answer. She was still distracted by the energy, at least a little bit. She was also a little excited to see Erasa, but she couldn’t ignore the fact that this energy may be a threat. Maybe it would be worth telling her mother about.

The girls arrived at the mall and went in to find Videl. They were meant to meet outside of a specific shop, so Pan and Bra were on the lookout for it. It didn’t take long for Pan to find her mother and standing next to her was a blonde woman she immediately recognised. Standing next to that woman was a girl who must have been the same age as Pan and Bra, but she appeared to be very shy and was standing very close to Erasa. That must be her daughter.

Pan and Bra caught Videl’s attention and she started to wave them over. Pan walked up and greeted her mother with a hug, Bra got a hug too.

**“You remember Erasa, right?”** Videl asked, motioning to her friend. Pan nodded and smiled.

**“Of course, I do,”** Pan said, walking up to Erasa as the bubbly blonde took her best-friend’s daughter into a tight hug.

**“It’s so good to see you again Pan, it has been far too long,”** Erasa said, releasing the hug. Bra just stood and did a little wave. She wasn’t familiar with this woman, but she had heard a lot about how she went to school with both Gohan and Videl. Bra was polite so she introduced herself.

**“Hello ma’am. I’m Bra, Pan’s friend,”** The blue-haired girl said, holding her hand out for a handshake. Erasa chuckled, taking Bra into a little hug as well.

**“It’s great to meet you. God, these kids are all grown up now,”** Erasa laughed again as she looked back to Videl. The two old friends were locked into a conversation about their children while Pan stood and listened in, enjoying seeing her mother in a very happy mood with her friend.

Bra, however, had her attention gripped by the girl standing with them. She was also blonde, although she wore it in a ponytail, showing that she had significantly longer hair than her mother, who had always opted to have it short. The girl was wearing a plain white shirt with a grey skirt. Almost like it was just traditional formalwear for school. That’s when she spotted the badge attached to the strap of her backpack. It was an Orange Star badge.

**“Hi, you go to our school?”** Bra asked the girl. She seemed surprised that Bra started talking to her and appeared to get a little nervous. Erasa noticed Bra was talking to her daughter and turned to the girl.

**“It’s ok, you can introduce yourself, these are family friends,”** Erasa said to her daughter in a soothing and sweet tone.

**“Hi, I’m Kiera,”** The girl said, sort of with a little mutter so it wasn’t easy to hear her. Erasa put her hand on her daughter’s shoulder and looked to Bra.

**“She only just started at the school today, it’s been a little hard for her to settle in since we moved so we delayed her starting date,”** Erasa explained. **“I took her out of school early today because she’s been feeling really ill because of all this stress.”**

**“Well, you don’t have to be too nervous in our school, you can hang out with us, right Pan**?” Bra suggested, turning back to the black-haired girl standing next to her mother as well. Pan stepped over.

**“Yeah, definitely, you’re more than welcome to hang around with us,”** Pan said, enthusiastically. Kiera appeared to perk up but was still a bit nervous. Erasa smiled but had something to interject with.

**“The only problem, she won’t be in any of your classes. She’s actually a year younger than you two,”** Erasa explained.

**“That’s ok, we’ll be more than happy to have lunch with you,”** Bra said, still keeping happy and enthusiastic about it.

**“And you’ll have no problems making friends in your classes,”** Erasa assured her daughter with a kiss on the head. Kiera stepped away trying to wipe the kiss away, prompting a chuckle from the two mothers. Erasa turned back to Pan and Bra, **“Thank you, girls. This will be good to help her get settled.”**

**“Girls,”** Videl said, getting the attention of all the children, **“Why don’t you all go and browse around the shops so Erasa and I can have a proper catch-up.”**

The trio of girls agreed and then walked off together while Videl and Erasa stepped inside a café to have their chat. It was a little awkward at first with Pan and Bra not sure what to say right away. But then Bra stopped when she saw her favourite shop.

**“Ooh! Pan. We have got to go in here!”** She squealed before rushing out the next part of her sentence. **“Remember than thing that I told you that I needed to get. Ooh, I hope they have my size!”**

Bra turned around to face the shop and rushed on in. Pan turned to Kiera and chuckled nervously.

**“Sorry about her, she gets very excitable very easily,”** Pan joked. Kiera smiled and laughed a little.

**“I actually really like this shop too, to be honest,”** Kiera said, finally saying some more words. Pan looked to her and smiled. **“They had one local to where I used to live.”**

Pan noticed that was clearly a bit of a sore topic for the young blonde, so she decided to take control and change the situation.

**“Let’s go see if we can find Bra,”** Pan said, as the two walked in together. Bra was already picking up a lot of things she liked and Pan just sighed and shook her head. Kiera looked on, a little wide-eyed.

**“She really does love this store. Can she really afford all of that?”** Kiera asked. Pan laughed again.

**“She’ll probably burn through all of her allowance if she keeps on like that, but yeah, she can afford it,”** Pan replied. Kiera still seemed very surprised by the way Bra was.

**“So, that’s what Capsule Corp. does to you, I guess,”** Kiera joked. Pan chuckled.

**“Yep. She sure is lucky,”** Pan said, smiling. **“Let’s see if she needs our opinions on anything.”**

The trio walked around the shops for some time, with Bra picking up a few things that she liked and even offering to buy something for the other two girls, who both politely rejected the offer. On the little shopping trip Bra learned that Kiera had similar taste to her and even pointed out a few items that the blue-haired girl might like. This then prompted Bra to tell Kiera that she didn’t need to dress so formally for school and that she would be willing to help the girl pick out some outfits in the future. Kiera liked that idea. As Bra was just going to pay for things Pan was distracted by something. But not something new.

She felt that energy again, and this time it felt like she was taken out of the location she was in and she completely ignored her surroundings. She prepared herself to feel something intense or bad, but that didn’t come. She noticed there was a feeling of comfort. Sure, the negativity and hurt was still there, but for the moment whatever she could feel was in a positive space. Pan smiled to herself and relaxed just as Bra walked over.

**“Shall we go back to your mom then?”** Bra asked, holding a couple of bags. Kiera stood beside her with a smile. Pan smiled at the two of them and they went back to see Videl and Erasa.

Everybody said their goodbyes after that with Erasa and Kiera heading back to their home, with Kiera happily saying she’ll see the girls at school the next day. Pan and Bra shared the sentiment. After that, Videl flew her capsule-jet back to West City to make sure that Bra got home safely and then mother and daughter made their way home. One the way there, Pan was deep in contemplative thought. She was questioning making a decision that she wasn’t certain about and worried what her mother would to say.

**“You’ve been very quiet, are you ok?”** Videl asked. Pan was brought back into reality. **“What are you thinking about?”**

Pan remained silent and looked out of the window at the passing fields. Should she really say something? What harm could it do?

**“I’ve been feeling something recently, an energy… I don’t quite understand it,”** Pan finally said, she immediately felt some sort of weight lift off of her chest, but there was still an anxiety surrounding what her mother’s response would be.

**“As in a threat?”** Videl questioned. Pan shook her head.

**“No. I don’t feel that in this person,”** Pan explained. If she was to be honest with herself, she couldn’t really put her finger on what she was feeling. It was all so confusing.

**“Well, if it was a threat, your father or someone else would have felt it too, so I don’t think there’s anything to worry about,”** Videl explained, trying to keep the situation calm. She knew it was odd, and she would probably have to say something to Gohan about it, but she had the ability to sense energy and couldn’t feel anything. Pan wasn’t satisfied with the answer her mother gave her but accepted it.

**“It’s probably nothing,”** Pan said, looking away out of the window again.

The rest of the evening went by just like normal. Pan had dinner with her parents, did some homework, and then went to bed. All normal.

Then later that night when she was sleeping, peacefully, something alerted her mind and forced her awake. Pan jumped up in her bed, in a panic, and could feel a huge pulse of energy zap right through her. She was breathing heavily and felt like she had been attacked by something. She was frightened. Something had shot right through her heart and now that she was awake, she could feel it. Fear. Sadness. Rage. All of it had cut right through Pan and it terrified and worried her.

She rushed to her window, opening the curtains and looked out into the sky. As quickly as the whole ordeal had happened to her it all vanished again. She began to calm down and stepped back to sit on her bed. Suddenly, Pan was very tired and lay back down on her bed, looking out of the window, her curtains still open.

**_“Who are you?”_** She wondered to herself before drifting off back to sleep.


	6. Shocking Exit

**_Chapter 6: Shocking Exit_ **

* * *

It had been a quiet evening in the mountain village, which was definitely a strong contrast to what had happened earlier in the day. Noca and Holline had helped the latter’s grandfather with his shop for a few hours, and Holline’s family were more than happy to accept Noca’s help and even have him stay at their house that night. Holline was unsure why Noca had decided to stay the night and not return back to his own home. Something didn’t seem right with Noca in her eyes, but he didn’t give anything up. He wasn’t ready.

That night Noca stayed in Holline’s room with her, which wasn’t unusual for them. It wasn’t the first time they had shared a room, and they had even shared a bed in the past. This had prompted questions and teasing from her mother about the two being a couple but neither of them had ever seen their relationship that way. They had known each other and had been friends for a very long time, they were almost like family and that was how they thought of one another. They were like brother and sister; they were best friends. They loved each other.

Despite how close and comfortable they were, Noca chose to sleep on the floor that night in his sleeping bag. In his mind he was saying that it was to get better used to sleeping outside in more uncomfortable situations, but Holline just saw it as the boy being stubborn. Holline even suggested Noca have the bed and she sleep on the floor, believing he needed rest after the tough day. Noca stuck by his decision to stay on the floor. Holline gave up eventually.

Both of them had a long and eventful day so they fell asleep reasonably early. Noca was certain he needed to wake up early the next morning and head off as soon as he could. He just tried to embrace the last comfortable night of sleep he would get for some time. He drifted off to sleep, feeling a twinge of quiet satisfaction.

That satisfying feeling wasn’t going to last long.

*

_ Noca was laying on the floor. It was cold. Rough. His back ached as he sat up and looked around. He was outside, and strangely enough he was inside his own village. Everything was normal, no damage had been caused. Even his home was still standing. It was strange. He definitely didn’t know what to feel. He was just far too confused, and it seemed to mask all other emotions he could be feeling. _

_ He was home in his village, and it looked perfect. He should be feeling happy in that moment. _

_ Noca continued to walk through the village hoping to find something that would explain what was going on. He was drawn to his own home. There was no place he would rather be. He stepped up to the front door and stalled just as he started to reach for the doorknob.  _

_ He had no idea what would be inside. What was he going to see? All Noca wanted was to open the door and step in to see his mother smiling at him with her arms open. If this was the only way he could do that again then he had to do it.  _

_ He turned the door handle, anxiously, and stepped inside. Everything was normal. Clean. Tidy. Quiet. He moved through the house and looked around. _

_ “Mom?” Noca called out, hoping to hear her soothing voice come back. The only voice he heard was his own as it echoed through the house, through his own mind. But there was no answer. It only fuelled his confusion that much more.  _

_ Noca was starting to question why he had been brought back there. He wondered if there was a purpose or reason behind this. He turned around about to step outside of the house and back into the village street, but there was no chance as cracks started to appear in the ground and on the walls, they were on everything. With one big cracking sound the whole world fell apart and shattered, leaving Noca in the dark, empty space. But then there was a flash of red light and flames erupted around the boy. _

_ Noca was surrounded, he could feel the heat, he could touch the flames. They were closing around him and once they did Noca fell back into his village, only this time absolutely everything was on fire. The people were running around frantically, and it seemed as if the flames were chasing after everyone. _

_ All the people were consumed and overwhelmed by the flames and only then did they die away, leaving Noca alone in the charred remains of his former home. Noca collapsed to his knees and pounded the ground, but then something else happened to shock him. _

_ A booming voice vibrated through Noca’s head. _

_ “YOU ARE GOING TO FAIL. EVERYONE YOU CARE ABOUT IS GOING TO PERISH IN THE FLAMES.” _

_ “Who are you?” Noca called out, his voice echoing again. The flames flared up again, around Noca, trapping him in a sort of prison. Noca crouched down and tried to cover his head. “Why is this happening to me?” _

_ “LOOK AT THE DESTRUCTION YOU HAVE CAUSED. WATCH EVERYONE YOU CARE ABOUT DIE.” _

_ “Who’s left for you to take?!” Noca screamed out, as he looked up into the sky. “You have already taken my mother. I have nothing left.” _

_ His head started to burn, and the pain was stabbing right through his skull. He arched over gripping his head again.  _

_ “NOTHING? NOT EVEN HOLLINE?” _

_ Noca froze at the mention of his best-friend’s name. He looked up slowly and noticed that he had blocked out all of the pain. He glared into the flames as he stood up. A mistake had been made with the mention of her name.  _

_ “Show yourself to me. NOW!” Noca screamed in a complete rage. His fists clenched and his eyes focussed.  _

_ “HA-HA-HA! I WILL NOT DO THAT. FOR IT IS NOT ME YOU SHOULD BE CONCERNED ABOUT.” _

_ With that, a figure stepped through the flames ahead of Noca. It was Omega. Noca’s brow furrowed as he stared forward at the man he had only just met. The flames behind him seemed to part some more and there were clearly more people standing behind him, shrouded by darkness. Noca was even more confused as he tried to piece together who all those people could be.  _

_ “Who are they and what do they have to do with my life?” Noca yelled out, demanding answers. There was no response and the beings all backed away into the flames. Noca turned around to look for something else in the empty space he occupied, but the flames were too strong. “Come back!”  _

_ The flames started to close in around Noca and with a swift movement they engulfed him and Noca was in the darkness. Then another voice spoke. _

_ “Noca…” the voice said softly. It belonged to a woman and Noca instantly recognised it.  _

_ “Mom?” Noca muttered in response.  _

_ “Noca,” the voice said again, sounding more pained and panicked that time.  _

_ “Mom, where are you?!” Noca yelled out as he finally fell into the charred remains of his old village again. He was right in front of his own home and looked up. It was still standing, looking pristine. _

_ “Noca, I’m here,” His mother’s voice said again, still in pain, and almost pleading. Noca rushed forward but before he could set foot in the house it collapsed into a heap. The force of the collapse sent Noca falling back to the ground. He struggled to find any words.  _

_ “Why, Noca?” the voice questioned, still sounding very pained. Noca looked around again, still perplexed. _

_ “What?” Noca muttered. _

_ “Why did you let me die?” The voice asked. Noca froze up again and sat still, staring into space, tears filling his eyes. He couldn’t find any words. “You failed. You’re always going to fail.” _

_ Why would his mother be saying those things to him? She had never once thought of her son as a failure, but right now those words were entering his head and it was definitely her voice.  _

_ “I… I tried to save you… you told me to leave,” Noca said, stuttering as he tried to find a way to justify his actions, but there just wasn’t a way.  _

_ “You have always been set up for failure,” his mother’s voice said once more, only this time there was a more sadistic and teasing tone. “You’re stalling your own progression and running around with your little friend.” _

_ Noca was starting to question the origin of the voice he was hearing because that was certainly nothing like how his mother had ever spoken to him. _

_ “Why is this happening?” Noca muttered to himself as the burning pain returned, engulfing his entire body. Noca tensed up and could feel tears streaming down his face. He screamed out. “Why is this happening?!” _

_ He was losing himself and screamed into the open world as he faded back to black and he was left alone with nothing but his pain. The burning pain was reaching breaking point and with a spark and an explosion… _

*

Noca was jolted awake, sitting up in his bed and he couldn’t stop himself from crying out, with a mix of fear, anger, and pain. The sudden sound was enough to shock Holline awake also. She sat up and looked straight to Noca as he sat there, breathing heavily, trying his best to calm himself. Holline jumped down from her bed and moved in front of Noca, trying to get him to look her in the eyes.

**“What’s wrong? Are you ok?”** She asked, worrying for her friend. Noca continued to breathe heavily and Holline could see his eyes were red like he had been crying for a long time. There were certainly tears in his eyes, but he didn’t seem like he had actually been crying. Holline was confused. Noca didn’t look his friend in the eyes, almost as if he didn’t realise she was sitting in front of him. She took his hands in hers and tried to catch his attention. **“Noca, look at me.”**

Noca looked to his younger friend and started to calm down a little. His breathing steadied but the pain behind his eyes didn’t subside. He looked into Holline’s caring eyes. He felt his hands on hers. He looked down at her hands and then back into his friend’s eyes. His jaw started to tremble, and his breathing increased again. The tears started to run down his face, and he was finally crying and letting out the stored-up emotions.

Holline didn’t understand. She was overwhelmed and blown away by this sudden outburst of emotion and dragged her friend into a tight embrace. Noca had let go and his tears were running as he cried into the red-head’s shoulder. Holline couldn’t help but get upset also, even though she didn’t understand what was going on.

**“I failed her, Holline…”** Noca muttered, trying to stifle his sobs.

**“What do you mean? Who?”** Holline asked, pulling Noca back and looking him in the eyes. He seemed to have lost all energy and ability to hold himself up. He was practically swaying on the spot in the bed. Holline didn’t press and waited for Noca to speak on his own terms. He was clearly trying to control himself. He sniffled and wiped away tears.

**“She’s gone…”** Noca uttered. Holline still held his hand’s in her own and that contact was enough to give Noca the comfort he needed to push the words out. He needed to say it out loud and he needed to tell his friend. She deserved to know. **“My Mom…”**

Holline gasped as she realised what Noca was trying to say. Noca continued to let out small shuddering breaths as his sadness continued to grow. He knew his friend wouldn’t handle the news well. Holline had always been such a close friend of their little family, and vice-versa. The red head tried to keep herself strong for Noca and took a deep breath.

**“She’s dead,”** Noca said, half-whispering it and there was sense of understanding in his tone. He hadn’t come to terms with what had happened, but he accepted that this was his reality. The dream had really hammered that point home.

**“Noca… I… I’m so sorry,”** Holline said as she dragged her friend into a tight embrace again, allowing him to express all the emotion he had locked up inside. She rubbed his back and did her best to stifle her own sobs so she could keep strong. In truth, it was far too difficult, especially with her lack of experience. They were both so young and this was an intense moment for the two of them.

**“I failed her. She’s dead because I didn’t get there in time,”** Noca muttered, Holline immediately pulled away and looked him in the eyes.

**“No. Don’t say that. How is it your fault?”** She said. Noca swallowed and looked up to her and he looked angry, but not with Holline. With himself.

**“I saw her, in pain. She… she told me to go. She told me to run,”** Noca said, more to himself than to Holline. He was confused by it. Holline tried to find something to say.

**“That doesn’t make it your fault. She wanted to protect you, I’m sure…”** Holline pleaded with her friend. She really wanted him to think rationally. **“You shouldn’t blame yourself.”**

Noca didn’t say anymore and sat staring at his own hands. The dream clearly had an effect on him. He had really let the voice and the words of his mother get to him. He couldn’t accept that it was only a dream. He was a failure. As far as he was concerned, he was a complete failure and worthless. There was only one thing he could think to do to even try and make it up to his mother and that was to honour her last wish for him to find Son Goku.

**“I have to leave. I need to go find Son Goku. That is what she wanted for me,”** Noca explained. Finally storing the emotion away again and replacing it with a determination. Although, Holline could see that Noca’s rage was in primary control. There was something in his eyes that told her it was the anger he held towards himself that fuelled his motivations. She moved closer to him.

**“Where is this Son Goku?”** Holline asked, trying to be a supporter.

**“I don’t know. I need to try going West. That’s my best chance. At least, that’s what #17 said,”** Noca explained, the conversation becoming a lot more restrained and calmer. Holline didn’t like how Noca had stuffed his sadness away so quickly and believed he needed to be embracing it, but she didn’t want to force him to do so.

**“You can’t go now. You should wait until you’re in a better state of mind,”** Holline said, even though she was pleading more so than suggesting. She didn’t like the idea of Noca going out there alone and putting himself in danger. Noca moved and stood up.

**“I don’t have a choice. I don’t want to wait around. I need to do what she asked me to,”** Noca said, looking away from Holline. She had to give it to him, he was certainly devoted to his mother enough to take on-board what she had told him to do, but she still wasn’t letting him go out there. At least… not by himself.

Holline stood up.

**“I’m coming with you then,”** She said, letting her own determination take place. Noca turned around swiftly.

**“No. I don’t want that for you,”** Noca responded, clearly getting defensive.

**“Too bad. It’s what I want,”** She said, stepping towards Noca and showing she was utterly serious. Noca shook his head.

**“I won’t let you,”** Noca said, but that wasn’t something Holline took kindly to. She couldn’t let someone hold her back or act like she couldn’t do something.

**“Why? Because I’m a girl? Because I’m younger than you?”** Holline said, taking slight offense, but trying to show that she was confident and strong enough to push through.

**“I don’t want to be responsible for you getting hurt…”** Noca muttered. Holline was ready to retort but he stopped herself. Noca looked away again. **“I had a dream. A nightmare. My mother told me I failed her and… someone made it clear they could hurt you.”**

**“It was dream,”** Holline said, a slightly questioning tone in her voice. She couldn’t deny that it was a little scary to think Noca had seen that. Noca shook his head. Holline stepped forward, took a hold of his arm, and pulled in, placing her head on his shoulder. **“I’m coming with you. You can’t say no.”**

Noca sighed and gave up. He wasn’t sure he had the fight in him to argue with her. As things stood, she was basically all he had left and wanted desperately to protect her from danger. He was terrified, but she was always a comforting voice. Like his mother.

**“We should get some sleep. Talk about it in the morning,”** Holline said as she moved back to her own bed. Noca remained standing for a minute before slowly getting back into the bed he had made-up on the floor beside Holline’s bed. She watched him as he turned around to get some sleep and now that they were in silence, in the dark, she couldn’t stop the tears that flooded her eyes. Emna had been like an Aunt, or a second mother, to Holline. This was a big loss for her as well. She turned away to face her wall and quietly sobbed into her pillow.

Noca’s Saiyan hearing was strong, and he could hear her sobs.

*

_Wednesday 20 th September Age 791_

Noca had a very restless sleep. He didn’t feel rested. His head was pounding. As the Saiyan sat up in the bed he turned to look over to his friend. She was still asleep. Noca sat and watched her for a minute before slowly moving and getting out of bed. He changed into some ordinary clothes. Deciding not to wear the Gi that had belonged to his grandfather. Once he was dressed, he went downstairs, managing to avoid bumping into any of Holline’s family, and he was out of the house and on the street. He looked around and saw people setting up for their day. The stores were opening, there was a man with a vegetable stall. Noca looked into the village then looked towards the path that led back into the mountains.

He gave a small glance back to Holline’s house and started to walk along the path.

Back in the bedroom, Holline shifted and finally woke up. It was reasonably early, around 7am. Holline sat up out of her bed and looked down to the floor, almost forgetting that Noca had stayed with her that night. Soon everything came back, and she noticed he wasn’t there. She frantically jumped out of her bed, grabbed her dressing-gown and went to rush down the stairs but noticed something by her wardrobe. Noca’s backpack. He didn’t take it with him. She rushed down the stairs and out into the street. She looked up and down the paths but couldn’t tell where he went.

**“Holline!”** A voice called from behind. Holline turned around to see her mother standing in the doorway. **“What are you doing?”**

The brunette woman stood there, hands on her hips, and she was dressed ready for a working day. She ran the stall that sold some of produce that came from the family’s farm, which was run by Holline’s grandfather. Holline looked down, noticing she had rushed into the street in her pyjamas and dressing-gown. She laughed nervously and walked back into the house.

**“Sorry Mom, did you see Noca leave?”** Holline asked. Her mother could see the concern. She shook her head.

**“No. He must have gone out early,”** the woman said, she seemed very at ease about the situation and didn’t understand why Holline was worried. **“He probably needed to get home early.”**

Holline shook her head and rushed upstairs to get dressed properly. Her mother just stood on the spot, a little bewildered. She waited for Holline to come back down the stairs and when the red-headed girl did she was carrying Noca’s bag with her.

**“He left his backpack, I need to go find him,”** Holline said, but as she attempted to rush off again her mother grabbed her back.

**“Wait, what’s going on? Explain**.” She said, sternly. Holline stopped and sighed. She proceeded to tell her mother what Noca had told her the previous night. At least, everything apart from the journey to find Son Goku. Holline’s mother did wonder why Noca had decided to come back here the very next day and why he was with a strange man. Holline didn’t have anything to say to that. Well, she did. She just didn’t want to bring up how she was planning to go with Noca. Once Holline had finished explaining her mother understood why she needed to go and find Noca and allowed her daughter to go.

Holline was rushing up the path towards the village exit when she saw someone walking back into the village. It was Noca. Holline stopped for a second and then walked to him, a concerned and annoyed look on her face.

**“Where did you go?”** Holline called out as she walked up to him. Noca was surprised, he had not seen Holline initially and stepped back upon seeing the fierce girl appear in front of him. Noca started to stammer and stutter, unable to get his explanation out. **“Well?”**

**“I just had to scout ahead. Find a good route. A safe route,”** Noca explained. Holline knew it sounded reasonable, but she didn’t trust him. **“Plus, I left my backpack with you, so you’d know I was coming back.”**

Holline looked at the bag and realised it made sense and she had just jumped the gun. She sighed and chuckled to herself.

**“I thought you were leaving without me,”** She said.

**“I was going to,”** Noca said, honestly. Holline looked up, feeling a little betrayed. **“But I also realised it wasn’t up to me what you do.”**

Holline perked up and felt like her friend was truly putting his trust in her.

**“You need to tell your Mom first,”** Noca’s follow-up seemed to shatter Holline’s perception of the situation. She had completely forgotten how her mother would react. Noca walked past her back to the house. **“Maybe we should go ask her.”**

Holline was practically frozen on the spot as she thought of the tough task ahead of her. She needed to persuade her mother to let her go walking out into the mountains with nothing but her best friend. Two pre-teens. Out in the dangerous mountains. On their own. Yeah, good luck.

Holline’s mother was at the farm collecting supplies to take back to their stall, with Holline’s grandfather there helping with some of the organisation. He was getting old so he couldn’t do as much of the hard-work and labour like he used to, but luckily enough he had employed a few younger men and women to help out, and some of the teens in the village would help out for a small amount of money.

Holline’s mother stopped moving boxes when she noticed that her daughter was walking up the path with Noca. Holline was nervous as she stepped up to them both. Holline’s family were happy to see that Noca was ok, but now they both knew what had happened and Noca could sense the slight awkwardness in the air. He could tell that Holline had told her mother. He wasn’t angry or upset. He understood that Holline’s family would need to know details, and again, like Holline, they deserved to know. Holline’s and Noca’s mothers had been friends too.

The woman stepped up to Noca and placed her hands on his shoulders.

**“I’m sorry,”** she said, softly. Noca nodded, continuing to try and keep his emotions stuffed away. He wanted to keep his mind focussed on the journey ahead. Holline’s mother took Noca into an embrace which Noca reciprocated. Holline cleared her throat.

**“Mom, I need to ask you something,”** the girl said, nervously. The mother backed up and looked to her daughter.

**“What is it, sweetie?”** The woman asked. Holline looked to Noca but the boy gave nothing away. She sighed and looked back to her mother.

**“Noca needs to go West, towards the cities, he has something he needs to do, and I want to go with him,”** Holline said, finding her confidence. Noca had hoped she would change her mind, but he wasn’t going to protest anymore. He just had to hope that her mother wouldn’t allow it.

**“What? Noca, is that true?”** the woman asked, turning to the Saiyan. Noca’s eyes went wide. He didn’t expect he would have to say anything. He cleared his throat.

**“Yes. My mother told me to find a man, Son Goku, he’s like me,”** Noca said, trying not to give everything away. The woman looked back to her daughter. She understood Noca’s origin was different and accepted it. With his mother gone, that meant Noca had no one else like him to help him. He needed to find someone like him. It made sense to her. The woman turned to face her daughter again.

**“You can’t go with him,”** She told her daughter. Holline’s anticipation for the journey was completely dashed and she started to sulk. She was about to protest but her mother continued. **“I wish I could stop Noca too, but he’s not my son. You’re my daughter, and I don’t want you putting yourself in danger.”**

**“Oh, a little adventure never hurt anybody,”** an older voice said. All three turned to face Holline’s grandfather as he walked over with a smile. He stopped next to Holline and put his hand on her head. **“She’s a smart girl. She won’t get into trouble.”**

The mother looked at her father with a concerned expression.

**“You’re such a bad influence on her,”** She said, but the old man just chuckled. Holline laughed with her grandfather and smiled back to her mother. The woman looked over to Noca who just looked away nervously. He understood it was a family decision. The mother looked at her daughter and saw that she really wanted this. **“Why do you want to go?”**

**“I…”** Holline started but couldn’t find her reasoning right away. Then she looked over to Noca and remembered his state from the previous night and how that having her to vent to and to comfort him had been a great help. Holline stood strong and stepped forward again. **“I want to be there for Noca. I don’t want him to do this alone. I won’t let him do this alone.”**

Noca looked over and started to understand that his friend was just trying to be supportive. This wasn’t a fun trip for her, this was something that she felt she had to do. Her mother looked to Noca again.

**“Do you want her to go with you?”** She asked Noca. The Saiyan swallowed nervously. And breathed deeply.

**“Yes,”** Noca answered. Holline perked up with the response and rushed over to her friend, hugging him. Noca chuckled nervously.

**“Will you protect her?”** The grandfather asked, a serious expression plastered on his face now, which was weird in comparison to the easy-going nature he had before. Noca nodded.

**“With everything I have. I would never let harm come to her,”** Noca said, a newfound determination growing within him. He continued to blame himself for his mother’s death and to make up with that he would make sure nobody dies because of him ever again. He would put his own life on the line to ensure he could protect everyone. Holline’s mother nodded and smiled.

**“Then yes, you can go with him,”** she said, Holline practically jumped and squealed with glee, but her mother continued. **“But you are to make sure you take enough supplies and stop by in the other towns and villages along the way to rest properly. And if things get difficult you come right back here, both of you.”**

Holline’s grandfather started to laugh and cheer for his granddaughter.

**“Oh, adventure is so fun. I remember when I went exploring as a young man, there’s nothing quite like it, kids,”** He said to them both. Holline laughed along and Noca smiled awkwardly. Holline’s mother didn’t take her eyes off of the boy, she could tell he was hiding his pain. He lost the only real family he had, and he seemed reasonably calm. Noca noticed she was looking at him. She just smiled weakly and nodded to him. Noca looked back to Holline. He needed to remain focussed.

Through the rest of the morning and up to about 1pm Holline was packing a bag to take with her and was given some money to grab extra things if needed along the way. That was something the two would need to think about as they went along. Noca had some money that had been given to him by the elder of his village and it was what little savings his mother had left. It probably wouldn’t be enough, but he would have to keep an eye on it and budget accordingly.

Noca was determined to get on the road as soon as they could, but Holline’s mother was finding it very hard to let her only child leave. Holline assured her that Noca would protect her and that she would be safe, and that she would return. Noca made sure to make it clear that he would stand by his friend the entire way. There was nothing left to be said as Holline said goodbye for now and then set off on the journey with her best friend.

A big journey lay ahead of them both.


	7. The First Fight

**_Chapter 7: The First Fight_ **

* * *

A few hours had gone by with Noca and Holline doing nothing but walking. They would chat, occasionally, but Noca’s focus remained fixed to the task that lay before him. Holline was finding things a little awkward, and even difficult. She was beginning to get tired, but she wouldn’t dare vocalise those thoughts, at least not after a few hours. She had to prove that she was more than capable of doing this; following through and sticking by Noca’s side.

It was only when the path seemed to start disappearing and the area became heavily wooded that Holline considered asking Noca if he knew where he was going. She continued for about half-an-hour with those thoughts on her mind, stepping over fallen tree branches, ducking under low hanging branches. There were a lot of trees, and the ground was uneven and a little slippery. It was only when she slipped and almost smacked her head on a tree that she decided to speak up.

**“Do you even know where we’re going?”** She asked, a frustrated tone in her voice. She had to put her hands out to stop herself from hitting the tree, and it had hurt a little bit. Noca stopped and turned back.

**“Not exactly, but if we keep heading in this direction, we’ll reach something,”** Noca said, he seemed confident in his idea, but there was a little uncertainty there. Holline sighed again.

**“Can’t we find a path to keep to, we could hurt ourselves walking through here?”** Holline asked, just wanting to find an easier way to get somewhere with people. Noca scoffed.

**“I don’t think there are any paths near here right now, we’ll just have to keep going** ,” Noca suggested. He held his hand out so he could help Holline along. She stepped forward and took his hand, letting him help her over a large log.

About twenty minutes later, the duo stepped through some trees and noticed an opening. Both of them continued and soon stepped out onto what looked like a mountain road. Not just a path. A road. Holline smiled and looked to Noca.

**“No paths, huh?”** She said, chuckling as she started walking along the path. Noca walked forward and noticed they were further up in the mountainous areas than he initially believed. He looked down and then looked back up at the mountain. He looked back over the edge and out across the land. There were a lot more forests and some other rock areas, but in the distance, he could see some villages and further along in the distance he was sure he could see a proper road. It was the first time he had seen a road like that. A properly paved road. It might be far away, but it was new. Those thoughts caused some slight anxiety.

Holline had continued ahead but soon noticed that Noca hadn’t followed. She stopped and walked back to stand next to Noca and look over the land.

**“It’s amazing how much is out there,”** She said, still not taking noticed of Noca’s blank stare.

**“This is the furthest either of us have been away from home,”** He said. Holline’s smile faded as she started to share Noca’s feelings. She looked to him and then back out over the land.

**“Well, let’s not stop here,”** She said, taking his hand in hers and looking at him. Noca looked down at their hands and then up at her. He smirked and nodded. They started to walk along the path, specifically the path that was leading down the mountain. There was no sense in heading further up.

As they continued along the path, they noticed a sign. It read: **“The Town of Suton – 1 Mile.”**

The two youngsters knew it was a good idea to continue on. Hopefully they would be able to find somewhere to rest in this new town. As they came closer, they noticed that while the paths and roads were still dusty, the buildings were significantly more modern than those from their own villages. Both were in awe at being in that situation for the first time. Sure, they had seen towns like this in books and on Television, but the people of their villages were still old fashioned enough to the point where they wanted everything to stay the same.

Noca had to admit, he always preferred the modern way and always dreamed of moving somewhere like this. Holline was the same. As they continued further into the town, they noticed the stores were more modern also, with one such store drawing the attention of the young girl.

**“They have a Capsule shop here! I’ve always wanted to own capsules!”** She exclaimed, rushing to the shop and looking through the window. Almost immediately a man wearing a polo shirt with the Capsule Corp. logo on stepped out.

**“Well, hello there, kids!”** The man was probably in his mid-twenties. He was brown skinned with curly black hair. **“Would you like to buy some capsules?”**

Holline laughed nervously.

**“I would love to, but…”** She patted her pockets, **“We don’t really have a lot of funds to spare.”**

**“Oh, that is a shame, but hold on,”** The man stepped inside the store and quickly re-emerged, carry a single capsule. **“This is a storage capsule. You can store large amounts of items in this one. Let me show you!”**

He pressed down the button on top of the capsule and threw it to the ground. It popped and revealed a box. It was a rather large box, about five square-feet. Holline looked at it and then to Noca.

**“This would be big enough to store all the stuff we carry and any food or supplies we get,”** Holline said enthusiastically. Noca stepped up and looked at the very fancy store. Noca had to do a double take because of how the store seemed to have so much more technology in it than the entirety of their two villages put together. He knew about Capsule Corp., of course, but it was still crazy.

**“I don’t think we could buy both this capsule and food,”** Noca said, not wanting to dash Holline’s hopes, but also wanting to remain realistic. The girl pouted, but she understood that Noca was telling the truth.

**“But that’s the great part,”** The salesman said enthusiastically. **“This storage capsule… is absolutely free.”**

He re-capsulised it and as it popped back into the air as a tiny capsule, he grabbed it and held it out for Holline. She hesitated for a second, looking at the capsule and back up at the man. He had a very genuine smile on his face.

**“Capsule Corp. has always been about making everyone’s lives more efficient and organised. We treasure customer satisfaction,”** The man said, gesturing for Holline to take the capsule. She gingerly took it and stepped back.

**“Uh… thank you, very much,”** She said, still uncomfortable with taking it for free, but accepting it, nonetheless. **“Are you sure?”**

**“Absolutely,”** The man said, continuing to smile. He said nothing more to the two of them as a family walked up to the store enquiring about something and his attention was drawn away. Noca and Holline looked to each other and continued on, hoping to find a store to get some food and other supplies.

Holline eventually found a good store and told Noca to try and find somewhere for them to stay the night while she bought stuff. Noca walked off to do just that. He really wasn’t sure what he should be looking for. It wasn’t like they could go and stay in a hotel. Noca was walking through the streets, making sure to keep track of his way back to the store so he could meet up with Holline again. He soon stumbled upon a building that seemed to resemble the older design from his village. It was an interesting building, with sliding doors and was rather large. There was a sign on the front that gripped Noca’s attention.

**“Omar’s Dojo”**

Noca stepped closer to it, trying to get a look inside.

**“May I help you?”** A voice said from behind Noca. The boy turned around quickly, surprised. **“It’s ok. Hello.”**

The man standing there seemed friendly enough. He was smiling at Noca and he was wearing a white Gi with a black belt and appeared to be in his late thirties, with short dark brown hair. He nodded to Noca.

**“Are you interested in my Dojo?”** The man asked, motioning to the building. Noca looked back at it.

**“Your Dojo?”** Noca asked. The man stepped towards Noca and held out his hand.

**“Yes. I’m Omar,”** He introduced himself. Noca shook his hand and for a brief moment he could feel the man’s energy. Noca shook it off, but his brow had furrowed slightly and even his tail flicked a little bit. That drew Omar’s attention. Noca noticed that and quickly wrapped his tail around his waist again. Omar just smirked and walked up to his door. **“It seems like you have a slight grasp on Ki.”**

**“What?”** Noca asked.

**“You reacted when you shook my hand. Meaning, that you sense my energy, even if slightly,”** Omar explained. Noca thought about it and it was true. He had caught a slight sense of something, but he wasn’t certain of what. It wasn’t the first time it had happened in his life, but he had attributed it to a sort of nervous twitch or something. **“Plus, your tail seemed to react.”**

**“You’re not confused about that?”** Noca asked, **“My tail, I mean.”**

Omar chuckled.

**“I have seen many strange and confusing things in my time, I must have seen a tail once upon a time,”** Omar joked, **“But don’t go showing it off to everyone. People don’t typically have tails.”**

Noca nodded and smiled weakly as he covered his tail with his top.

**“So, what experience do you have?”** Omar asked, **“And what brings you to our town?”**

Noca thought about it for second. He remembered the altercation with Omega the previous day, as well as the day his mother died, and then any times he had angry outbursts in the past. Those were moments where his energy had flared up and he knew it was something more. His mother had tried to teach him what she knew, but it was never a lot.

**“I don’t have much experience, I just know the energy is there,”** Noca explained. He intentionally avoided the second part of the question. It wasn’t important to anybody else. Omar had an inquisitive look on his face. Noca looked away nervously.

**“So, your energy is just natural. You have access to Ki, but you do not know how to use it?”** Omar said, clearly in a questioning tone but Noca knew it was rhetorical. Omar smirked and sat on the steps leading to his door. **“How would you like to have a lesson; a spar?”**

Noca straightened up, almost feeling like there was a slight excitement because of that offer. He pondered it for a moment and looked back down the street.

**“My classes for the day have finished but you’re intriguing, and I would like to see what your Ki control is like,”** Omar continued. Noca was in thought. His mother had given him some slight fight training, but it was never enough. Even with the criminals from the last couple of days he hadn’t actually fought them. Even with the android it was his instincts getting him out of danger.

**“That sounds cool,”** Noca replied, awkwardly, **“But I need to find my friend and then find somewhere to stay for the night.”**

**“Well, you are welcome to stay in the Dojo, and the offer to spar is still on the table,”** Omar said with a smile. Noca stood there contemplating it, unsure of what to say. **“There are no strings attached, no conditions. You are allowed to stay here.”**

Noca knew he couldn’t be picky. There weren’t going to be that many generous and friendly people in the world. The two youngsters had been lucky in this town so far.

**“Thank you so much, I’ll need to find my friend and then we’ll be back here,”** Noca said, with a weak smile. He went to walk off to find Holline but stopped and looked back. **“And maybe I’ll consider the offer for a spar.”**

Noca rushed off and Omar watched, a smirk on his face.

The Saiyan quickly met up with Holline outside of the shop, she had a couple of bags.

**“I managed to get some good deals. I told the lady in there about our journey and she must have felt sorry for me because she wouldn’t stop giving me stuff,”** Holline explained, with a wide smile. Noca chuckled at how she was acting. **“The people here are so friendly.”**

**“Yeah, I even managed to find us somewhere to stay, for free,”** Noca said. Holline was pleased with that development and the two of them made their way to the Dojo right away.

**“So, he wants to fight you?”** Holline asked as they walked down the street. She was a little concerned about that. Noca shook his head.

**“It’s not like that. He’s a teacher. He basically wants to give me a lesson and see what I’m capable of,”** Noca explained. Holline was still confused but just shrugged her shoulders.

**“Well, as long as we have somewhere to stay,”** She joked.

The two kids arrived at their destination and walked in to see Omar sitting on the floor of the main space, waiting for them.

**“Welcome to my Dojo,”** He said standing up and bowing in Holline’s direction. **“It is nice to meet you, miss.”**

**“Uh… thanks,”** Holline said awkwardly, bowing back a little. Noca smiled at his friend.

**“We really appreciate this, sir,”** Noca said, formally, bowing also. Omar waved his hand.

**“It is fine, young man. There are rooms down the hall that you may use, as well as a bathroom,”** Omar said, motioning down the hall to his left. **“Use any of the rooms, I have nobody staying here at this time.”**

**“Where do you stay?”** Noca asked, attempting to make friendly conversation.

**“Oh, I don’t live in the Dojo, my home is out back,”** Omar explained. **“Please, go and set your things down and rest, you seem tired.”**

Holline nodded and thanked Omar and took their stuff down the hall to one of the rooms and immediately went into the bathroom to shower and wash. Noca remained in the main room with Omar.

**“You want to fight now?”** Omar asked. Noca pondered it. Did he?

**“I think so. I can’t explain it but…”** Noca trailed off, trying to explain his own feelings. **“For some reason it’s like I need to do this. Like I have something to prove.”**

Omar just nodded.

**“Do you have your own Gi, or would you like to take one of mine?”** Omar asked. Noca thought on it. He did have the Gi from his village. The Gi that apparently belonged to his grandfather. Noca thought about it, **“You do have one?”**

Noca nodded.

**“Is there a problem with it?”** Omar asked.

**“No. It’s not really mine, it was my grandfather’s,”** Noca responded.

**“And why should that mean it is not yours?”** Omar said, chuckling. Noca thought about it and nodded back.

**“I’ll need a moment to change,”** Noca said, smirking and walking down the hall. He quickly changed, making sure to fold it and tie it to make sure it fit properly. Noca looked at himself in the mirror.

He stepped back out into the room and made sure to do some of the stretches he had been taught by his mother. Omar started to stretch also and Noca copied what he was doing. The man chuckled to himself, noticing how Noca picked up on things relatively easily. Even if they were only stretching, it was slightly new to him.

By the time they had finished warming up Holline had finally returned, ready to watch the fight. Noca was happy that his friend was there but his nerves started to kick in, and he didn’t like that. He tried to think back on any of the training he had been through with his mother in the past and moved into something of a fighting stance. He stood with his arms up, his right hand clenched into a fist, and his left open. He stood with his left foot forward.

Omar looked over the stance and put his hands together in front of him, standing straight. He didn’t seem to move into a proper fighting stance, and it confused Noca. The Saiyan took a deep breath as Omar closed his eyes. Holline looked between the two, wondering what was about to happen.

Omar’s eyes opened.

**“Begin.”**

Nothing happened right away and Noca realised he had frozen. He clenched his teeth and forced his body to move. He started to run forward and thrust his right fist forward. Omar stepped to the right and with his own right hand he pushed Noca’s arm away, and then pushed the Saiyan back with his left hand out flat. Noca stumbled slightly and moved forward with another jabbed punch. Omar catches the fist and moves in, pushing Noca away with a strong elbow.

Noca grunted as he fell back and dropped to a knee, losing his balance. He growled and jumped back to his feet, rushing towards the teacher again, thrusting another fist forward. Omar easily stood back to avoid being hit again, but Noca moved quickly and attempted to kick out at Omar. The teacher smacked Noca’s leg out of the way and the boy was turned around and fell down to the ground again. He twisted around and managed to flip back to his feet.

Omar’s eyebrow arched at the sudden acrobatic movement and even Holline had sat forward. She had never seen Noca move like that before. It was only something small, but it was progress. Omar stepped forward, hoping to provoke another movement from Noca and force him into attacking. The Saiyan seemed to learn and moved with Omar, staying in front of him but keeping the same distance. Noca could tell that Omar was waiting for the boy to make the next move. The Saiyan didn’t realise it, but he was learning as the fight progressed. Omar knew this and made sure to use it to Noca’s advantage, aiming to help him. He was intrigued by Noca’s rapid adaption to the sparring session.

Noca was starting to look for an opening or a slip in movement from the experienced fighter. He had his eyes fixed on the man and spent all his time scanning for just the slightest little blip. Unfortunately, Noca’s perception wasn’t great at this time, and he was only just realising that it was within his repertoire. He moved forward, believing to have found the right moment to strike and went for a jabbed punch into Omar’s chest.

Omar caught the fist and twisted Noca’s arm to the side, making sure to hold back his strength so not to injure him, but it certainly caused some discomfort. Omar thrust his hand forward, pushing Noca back again and jumped forward. He landed in front of Noca with his right foot first and then spun around, and opted to go for a roundhouse kick, but slowed his movement to see how Noca dealt with the attack and how he acted when put in a defensive position.

Noca raised his left arm, purely out of instinct, blocking against the kick but didn’t have enough strength in the block and was knocked down to the ground. He quickly moved back and got back to his feet. Omar darted in front of him and thrust his hand forward, again. Noca stumbled back a little and wasn’t ready when Omar punched him in the face, knocking the Saiyan boy down to the ground.

Holline reacted to that hit, standing up as she watched her friend hit the ground. Omar noticed the girl move in the corner of his eye and was drawn to it, but that gave Noca a quick opening. The Saiyan jumped up to his feet and punched Omar in the gut. Omar bent down and chuckled.

**“Good hit, you’re learning,”** He muttered, stepping back to create distance again. Noca stepped back and moved into a stance with his fists at the ready. Omar was standing straight, not bothering to be in a stance. Noca was a little frustrated with Omar.

**“You haven’t been trying,”** Noca said. Omar cocked his head a little bit and smirked. **“A bit more effort might make me learn some more.”**

Omar looked to the side and chuckled lightly. He nodded and looked back to Noca.

**“Ok, we’ll see how you fare when I take it up a notch,”** The teacher mentioned as he moved in for another attack. He took a few steps forward and jabbed his left first towards Noca, smacking him in the face. Noca dropped back and looked up just in time to see Omar’s right hand coming down in a swiping motion. The Saiyan dodged back and watched the hand come down in front of him.

Noca grabbed the arm and twisted towards Omar, aiming his elbow for the fighter’s chest, but the more experienced fighter was quicker to his defence and caught the elbow. Omar pulled Noca’s arm down and pushed his strength on the Saiyan causing the clash to break with Noca stumbling back. He fell to one knee but ran forward right away. He attempted a right hook, but Omar stood back. Noca followed up with an attempted round-house kick like he had seen Omar do earlier. That kick was avoided just as easily. Once he was around and facing Omar again Noca attempted to charge forward with a jab, but Omar jumped up and flipped forward over the Saiyan, kicking back as he landed down, knocking Noca onto his front.

The Saiyan pushed up to his feet and turned with another fist coming for him. For a moment there was a brief panic, and everything started to feel slower. He could see the fist travelling towards him and it felt as if there was enough time to plan the next move. Noca was confused and managed to let that moment pass as he had to avoid the punch at the last moment. He moved to the left and dove forward, turning around once he was behind Omar and took a breath. As he inhaled, he noticed that his vision focused and once more, everything slowed. Omar was turning around but Noca had enough time to make his move, and he wouldn’t waste it this time.

He rushed past Omar and jumped up, turning around and punching down on his face, knocking him to a knee. Omar was down on the ground and turned to see Noca standing there, a small smile starting to cross his face. Omar was confused by the sudden burst. It was a lot different than adapting, he seemed to become a more competent fighter than he had previously appeared to be.

Omar stood up, moved toward Noca punched him in the gut and then pushed him back. Noca stumbled and fell to his backside. Once on the floor Noca seemed to feel winded, like he had run for miles. He was breathing heavily, and Omar noticed this. He composed himself and walked away, grabbing a towel and tossing it to the floor in front of Noca.

**“Wipe yourself off and rest. That’s it for the spar,”** Omar said, taking a sip from his bottle of water. Noca grabbed the towel and started to wipe sweat from his face. He had used up so much energy and it didn’t make a lot of sense, but he was learning to fight, that was certain. **“I’m going to return home. You are free to have some food from the fridge in the Dojo kitchen, then I suggest you get some sleep.”**

Noca had nothing to say, he was too tired to even get any words out. Holline had stood up from her seat and walked over to help Noca up, but the Saiyan was stubborn enough to do so by himself. He stood up and walked down to the bathroom to wash off. Omar knew that Noca was not only tired but appeared to be disappointed with himself for not doing better in the fight and understood the silence. He smiled at Holline and took his leave.

Holline grabbed herself something to eat and waited for Noca to come to the kitchen area. When he returned, he was just wearing a pair of black jogging bottoms and an old grey t-shirt.

**“You ok?”** Holline asked. Noca sat down as Holline passed him some food and he nodded, deciding to dig in and regain that lost energy. **“I think you did ok.”**

**“Thanks, I still have a lot to learn,”** Noca said, clearly dwelling on the negatives from his first fight, but that’s something he was trying to tell himself over and over. It was his first fight with someone that was actually a fighter. Training with his mother didn’t count because she definitely didn’t take things seriously, but this was real.

**“You were getting better as you kept going, I think you were great,”** Holline continued, clearly trying to help boost Noca’s confidence. Noca smiled at his friend and continued to eat. The two of them decided that once they finished eating, they should head to bed so they can be awake earlier the next day.

*

_Thursday 21 st September Age 791_

The next morning, Noca was awake before Holline and was already in the fighting area, practising his stances. He was punching and kicking the air and moving across the space trying to find the most efficient ways to navigate the fighting area and see how swift he could move. When Omar arrived, he was pleased to see Noca awake and already in a training mood.

**“You would make for a very great student,”** Omar said as he walked in. Noca noticed him and stopped practising to be polite and greet the teacher. **“Maybe you should consider joining my classes.”**

**“Uh… no, sorry, I can’t,”** Noca said, stumbling over his words. **“I have something else I’m already doing, and this was just a one-night stop.”**

**“That’s understandable, but I guess it doesn’t hurt to give you a few pointers before you leave,”** Omar said as he sat down on the floor of the fighting mat. Noca moved over and sat down opposite the man. **“There is a lot you could learn in regard to strategy and technique when fighting. You have clearly been taught, but you do not have a specific fighting style. Which can be a benefit, but without experience and knowledge of what you are coming up against, it can also be a strong negative.”**

Noca nodded along, listening intently, taking on-board all that he could. Omar went on to explain that Noca needed to make sure that he learned to refine his concentration and make sure he kept his mind calm when in a fighting scenario. There were times when Noca’s frustration fuelled his moves and it can be effective with training. Omar suggested meditation as a way of clearing the mind and adapting to new surroundings and pushing out the unwanted or unneeded energy before and during a fight. 

**“If you take on-board everything that you learn along the way, from all different kinds of fighters, you will become a great warrior yourself,”** Omar said, standing up and bowing to his temporary student. Noca stood and bowed also. Soon enough, Holline emerged and she already appeared ready to leave whenever Noca was ready.

Noca showered, dressed and gathered his things ready to travel. He kept a backpack with some of the essentials and items they would need to access quickly, and Holline did the same. Anything else was put inside the capsule that Holline was given to make their carry-load more efficient. They were ready and were on their way out of the town. Omar had decided to walk with them, making sure they got off safely.

They reached the edge of the town and Omar stopped the Saiyan.

**“I look forward to seeing you again someday, and perhaps seeing your progression as a fighter. It will be good to fight with you again,”** Omar said, putting his hand out. Noca shook the hand and smiled.

**“Yeah, it would be good,”** Noca agreed.

**“You two take good care of each other,”** Omar said, bowing to both of them and turning back to his town. The two youngsters looked to each other and smiled before heading off into the wilderness again.

Meanwhile, up on a mountainous ridge, not too far away, a man with shoulder length black hair watched on.


	8. Happy Birthday

**_Chapter 8: Happy Birthday_ **

* * *

After that sparring session against Omar, Noca and Holline continued on the journey to the west. They decided to try and avoid stopping at any smaller villages while they believed they had enough supplies. This gave them the chance to finally start using their camping gear and staying out in the wild. It was a big adjustment but both of them treated it like an adventure, which is exactly what it was, and managed to make it fun.

Noca kept up with some light training, mainly sorting out his stances and positioning. He started trying to delve into some meditation but found it increasingly difficult. There were just too many noises going on around him and with Holline there he just found it too hard when trying to switch off. It didn’t help that he didn’t have any experience with mediation and had no idea of what he really needed to do. It just made him tired and he almost drifted off to sleep a couple of times.

Noca had to find another way to keep his mind and body active, so training was the best option. Unfortunately, he didn’t really have anybody he could train against. Eventually, Holline spoke up about how she would like to be given some pointers, something that Noca was against initially but Holline insisted that she was more than capable of learning, and even mentioned the good point she might be needed if they encountered any issues. Noca obviously gave in and let her join him with his light sessions.

Noca taught her the basic form that he knew from training with his mom and helped Holline learn a stance. Noca wasn’t sure he could train her enough for any sort of heavy combat, but even Noca wasn’t ready for real combat. Holline liked that Noca was involving her and it became a part of the routine. A routine that involved a certain number of hours travelling, and only stopping for the night. The result of all of this: they were very tired.

A month passed by very quickly, and the duo found themselves approaching a small settlement.

_Thursday 19 th October Age 791_

They wandered into the little village. It appeared rather run-down. The buildings were old, and small. The people didn’t appear to have much, and nobody paid any attention to the two kids. Noca and Holline were wary as they continued to walk through, intending to pass by and move on as quickly as possible. They didn’t want to cross anyone that might hold a grudge against them.

As they started to get away from the small houses, they noticed a man pulling a large box up a path to another small house. He was struggling. As the kids approached, they noticed the man was rather small, very wrinkled and clearly elderly. He was wearing some sort of brown robe that was ragged and dirty. He had very thin white hair that was receding quite badly. He didn’t look in any real fit state to be dragging that large box up a hill. Noca moved towards him.

**“Hey, excuse me,”** Noca said, politely. He tried to keep his tone as calm as possible so the man wouldn’t be spooked. He turned around and smiled up at Noca, he was only a little bit smaller than the boy, but he had a hunched back.

**“What can I do for you, young man?”** He asked.

**“Nothing, I was just wondering if you needed a hand with this,”** Noca said, motioning to the box and smiling at the man. Holline stepped up beside Noca and whispered to her friend.

**“What are you doing?”** She asked.

**“Being nice,”** Noca whispered in response. The old man seemed satisfied with the offer.

**“Oh my, how kind of you. Yes, please,”** The man said, stepping away from the box and walking up towards his house. He seemed to hurry his walk showing that without the box his movement was certainly better. Noca lifted the box fairly easily. It was heavy, but nothing he couldn’t handle. He carried on up the path the man had run along, towards the small house that was situated further away from all the others. The old man left the door ajar and Noca pushed it as he stepped inside with Holline and set the box down.

It was dark and the kids couldn’t see anything but Noca had a weird feeling wash over him. He felt like there was a great danger nearby and there was no way to explain it. Holline noticed the uncomfortable expression on his face and realised something wasn’t right. Noca felt a presence, but it wasn’t a nice one.

The door behind them slammed shut with an intense force that caused the entire building to shake. Then the room lit up with torches on the walls coming to life. The fires flickered and Noca saw the old man standing ahead of him with another man standing by his side. He was very tall, muscular and had shoulder length blond hair. Noca stepped back but heard a panicked sound come from his friend and turned to see someone had taken a hold of her. He was probably about the same height and build as the other man. Both appeared to be fighters.

**“Let me go!”** Holline yelled as she struggled to get out of the man’s strong grip. Noca heard the creak of a floorboard behind him as the other man stepped towards him and Noca swung around and attempted to strike a hit, but the small old man threw his hands up and with sudden flash of energy Noca was thrown through the building back towards the village.

Noca landed down hard and slid across the ground. The old man stepped out of his house, cackling. His whole demeanour appeared to change. He held himself up, no longer hunched over and moved perfectly normally. Noca kept his eyes fixed on the old man as he slowly got back to his feet. The blond man remained by his side and the other man was still by the house, with Holline locked in his grip.

**“I was waiting for you to show up here, Saiyan,”** The old man said as he walked down towards him. Noca grunted and stood up defensively upon hearing that.

**“Let my friend go!”** Noca demanded. He wasn’t interested in learning about these people, he just wanted them to disappear. The old man continued to laugh.

**“Shai,”** The old man said, as the blond man reacted and stood forward. **“Restrain him.”**

**“Yes, Master Dazir,”** Shai replied as he ran towards Noca at a strong pace. Noca wasn’t prepared for that sudden break and tried to block himself properly but the big man crashed right into Noca, knocking him off of his feet and knocking him back a few metres. Noca fell down on his back and slowly moved, trying to get back up. The big fighter continued to walk towards Noca.

**“Leave him alone!”** Holline yelled as she continued to struggle in the grip of the man that held her. Dazir, the old man, looked up to her.

**“Silence girl! Everything is going just as I planned,”** He said, a sinister tone in his voice. Holline continued to struggle but the man tightened his grip and Noca heard the pained noise that came from his friend. Even though it was subtle, Noca heard it. He reacted by moving forward quickly and punching Shai in the gut, purely out of instinct. Shai bent over, clearly feeling the pain but grunted and slammed his fists down on Noca’s back knocking him into the ground. He then pushed down on Noca’s head.

**“Stop,”** a voice called out, as another man dropped into the scene. He was wearing a hooded, black cloak and a mask that hid all of his face. He appeared to be wearing a black Gi underneath and his body was completely covered. He walked towards the scene and stood ahead of Shai. **“You were told to restrain him. So, pick him up and take him to Dazir.”**

Shai glared down, not enjoying being told what to do by this new man. Noca could barely see him but there was a brief moment where he thought this man was going to help, but no, he appeared to be a part of their weird team. Shai took a hold of Noca’s arms in one hand and held them behind his back and pushed him forward towards Dazir, kicking him in the back of the legs to take him down to his knees.

Holline was starting to sob a little as she struggled in the other man’s grip.

**“Zala, would you keep her quiet,”** Dazir said, turning back to the man holding Holline. He just nodded and tightened his grip. Holline squealed a little and Noca winced, trying to move, but he didn’t have the strength. Shai was too tough.

The cloaked man walked past them and stood beside Dazir. Noca couldn’t tell for sure, but it seemed like the cloaked man was staring right at him. Noca got a strange yet familiar feeling from that man and it seemed like he may have felt the same thing.

**“Are you surprised to see this Saiyan?”** Dazir asked the cloaked man. Noca reacted again, hearing Saiyan. The cloaked man cracked his neck and looked down at Noca. **“I can sense the unrest in your mind.”**

**“I didn’t think it would be this one,”** The cloaked man said. Noca glared at him but couldn’t get a read on him at all.

**“This is brilliant, I now understand why Omega was intrigued,”** Dazir said, laughing to himself again. **“We have done him very proud this time.”**

Dazir moved forward and placed a hand on Noca’s head.

**“This will probably hurt,”** He whispered to the boy, but then he smirked and laughed again. Dazir’s hand started to glow and Noca felt his whole body tense up and he couldn’t move, at all. He couldn’t even speak, but he was in a lot of pain. Dazir continued to laugh and Holline was yelling out for the old man to stop.

Suddenly, a blast of energy came down and knocked Shai away into the building that they had used to trick Noca. The whole thing collapsed down around him. Dazir kept his power on Noca, so the Saiyan couldn’t move to try and see what had happened, but the cloaked man next to Dazir was standing to attention.

**“It’s a little unfair to pick on children,”** A familiar voice said from behind Noca as someone started to walk closer.

**“Oh, it’s that Android again. Omega warned me about you. Yento, take him out!”** Dazir yelled at the cloaked man beside him. He nodded and flew past Noca, clearly engaging the Android in a fight. It was obviously Android #17. Noca didn’t need any other confirmation. He had only met one Android that was on his side. The annoying thing was that Noca was still locked into whatever Dazir was doing and he was still in pain.

Behind the wizard Noca watched as Holline wriggled into a different position and managed to elbow the man holding her and dropped to the ground, turning around and punching him right in the private area. Noca’s eyes seemed to light up at seeing that and Dazir noticed something was up. He turned around as Holline rushed towards the old man, but he reacted by using his power to push Holline away to the side. She smacked against a tree and fell to the ground in pain.

Two mistakes were made with that movement. Dazir had diverted some of his focus, and he had attacked Noca’s best friend. Noca felt the paralysis that was over him weaken. He managed to move an arm and punched Dazir in the face as he turned back to face the Saiyan. Dazir was knocked back as Noca ran over to Holline to help her up.

As this happened Yento smashed down into the ground in front of Dazir and then Android #17 landed a few feet away.

**“I could take out the rest of you with complete ease, but I’d prefer it if you just left us alone,”** #17 said, threateningly as he powered up a Ki blast in his right hand. Dazir stepped back as Yento slowly pushed up to his feet. Shai pulled himself out of the rubble of the building and Zala finally found his own strength. They all stepped up but Noca and Holline rushed to #17’s side and stood their ground.

**“Let’s take them on!”** Shai yelled, standing forward. Dazir stood silently. Zala stepped forward alongside Shai, but Yento stayed by their master’s side.

**“No,”** Dazir said, turning to Yento, **“Get me out of here!”**

Yento lifted up Dazir and flew off without saying another thing. The other two men looked up and then back to trio before running off into the woodland. The three of them stood and looked down that path, trying to make sense of what had happened. Holline was feeling very weak after being thrown against a tree and wobbled on her feet a little, but Noca seemed to feel worse as he just fell down to one knee with a hand on the ground. Holline immediately dropped to his side to check on him.

**“Are you ok?”** She asked.

**“I don’t know… I just feel so drained,”** Noca explained. Android #17 helped Noca up to his feet.

**“Come on, let’s move on and set up a camp somewhere,”** The android suggested as the three of them carried on along the path that Noca and Holline were originally going down. Noca took note of this as is meant that #17 knew what path they were initially taking, but he was too tired to say anything about it at that moment.

They continued along the path and through the wooded areas for another half an hour before coming to an opening that was located in some sort of valley, with some large rocks around that could serve as a makeshift protective barrier that would also shield them from view. #17 was the one who said the location was ideal and let the kids get to work on setting up their camping equipment. The android wouldn’t need anything like that but knew the children would want comfort when they were sleeping.

The camp set-up was very quick and simple, then both Holline and Noca could finally relax and regain their energy. Once they were finally settled Noca broke the silence.

**“How did you know we were there?”** Noca asked the android, catching #17 off-guard. **“You helped us, and you seemed to come out of nowhere, so were you following us?”**

Holline sat up, clearly intrigued by the question Noca was asking. He was making a very observant point. #17 chuckled lightly.

**“I’ve been keeping an eye on you,”** #17 said, **“I wanted to make sure you were safe.”**

**“Why?”** Noca asked.

**“You’re a Saiyan, and you’ve definitely drawn the attention of people that intend to use that,”** #17 said, basically telling Noca the harsh truth. The boy looked away and seemed to stare at the ground. That stuck with him. **“You seem innocent and naïve enough that I didn’t want harm to come to you, either of you.”**

**“Why didn’t you just tag along with us?”** Holline asked.

**“I knew that my presence would probably make things easier. I have better tracking abilities, I’m obviously better at fighting,”** #17 explained. He stopped and looked to Noca. **“I imagine you would have preferred the challenge of being alone, right?”**

Noca looked up and nodded slightly, but his brow furrowed.

**“Then why intervene at all?”** Noca asked. #17 chuckled again and stood up.

**“You needed help, they would have done serious damage had I not stepped in,”** #17 responded. **“Now, I’m going to look around, check to make sure we’re safe. You two should rest.”**

**“What even is the time?”** Holline asked, realising she and Noca hadn’t been keeping track of things. **“I don’t have my watch, and I don’t even know what date it is.”**

Noca’s eyes widened slightly. He didn’t know the time. But he had certainly been keeping track on the days and hoped Holline would brush over this one without question like she had every other. Noca didn’t notice that #17 went to his wrist and removed his own watch, handing it over to Holline.

**“Here, you can have that,”** #17 said to the red head. Noca looked up, surprised and hoped that Holline didn’t pay the date any attention and ignored it. But her eyes went wide and she looked up to Noca. He cursed and looked away. #17 didn’t understand. Holline jumped up.

**“Noca, it’s your birthday!”** She exclaimed, making sure not to be too loud, but excited, nonetheless. Noca just nodded and sighed.

**“Yep, it is,”** He answered, bluntly. Holline dropped by his side.

**“Well, Happy Birthday,”** She said, smiling. Noca looked up at her, a clear sadness still in his eyes.

**“Is it though? A happy birthday?”** Noca asked, getting teary eyed. Holline swallowed and the reality of their situation and their motivation settling in again.

**“I’m sorry. I… uh,”** Holline stuttered, realising she had made a mistake in drawing attention to it but the two of them had celebrated almost all of their birthdays, since they met, together. She wrapped her arms around Noca and placed her head on his shoulder. Noca lifted a hand and placed it on hers. #17 watched the two and didn’t completely understand, Noca had never told him why he was travelling but he could tell something bad at happened. He didn’t need to pry.

**“So, how old are you?”** The android asked, just trying to keep the conversation neutral.

**“I’m thirteen now,”** Noca answered. #17 nodded.

**“Well, for what it’s worth, Happy Birthday, kid,”** #17 said as he turned and walked off into the trees to look around like he had planned too. Holline and Noca stayed in that position for a few more minutes.

*

Somewhere nearby, but not too close, Dazir and his allies had finally regrouped, and the small old man was not happy with how things went down.

**“Curse it!”** Dazir yelled, kicking the dirt. **“Omega told us we’d be able to deal with the Android if he showed up, but no, he showed all three of you up!”**

Zala looked around feeling rather offended.

**“He didn’t even lay a finger on me,”** Zala said, speaking in a low voice, appearing to be less intelligent than the others. Dazir rolled his eyes and took a deep breath.

**“No, of course, the android didn’t do anything to you, it was just a little girl who managed to incapacitate you!”** Dazir said, starting off quietly and eventually yelling up at the man. Zala hanged his head in shame. **“I was so close to succeeding, but Zala let that girl go, she distracted me and neither of you were there to protect me!”**

Dazir was yelling at Yento and Shai now. Shai tried to protest but realised he was knocked out of the fight very easily and backed off. Yento stood still.

**“I was fighting the Android alone. He proved to be a lot more difficult than we were informed,”** Yento said, his voice seemingly very monotone. Dazir shook his head, trying to calm his anger. **“May I suggest we plan to attack them in the night, when they least expect it.”**

**“The android will almost certainly be there to protect them,”** Shai said, stepping forward. **“How do you plan deal with that, Yento.”**

Yento turned to Shai and back to Dazir.

**“I suggest sending these two to scout ahead and find where they are camping. Then I will be the one to infiltrate their camp and keep the girl out of it,”** Yento explained. **“I am stealthier than these two, Master.”**

Dazir seemed to be contemplating it and looking straight ahead.

**“Ok. That’s not a bad idea,”** Dazir agreed, turning to Zala and Shai. **“You two go find them and then report back to me once you have their location.”**

Zala and Shai looked to each other and back down to the old man.

**“Where shall we look?”** Zala asked.

**“Go back to the village,”** Yento said, **“then follow along the western path, that’s where they were heading before.”**

Shai nodded in agreement and turned to Zala.

**“Come on, let’s go,”** Shai glared towards Dazir as he walked off with Zala, but the old man was turned away and didn’t notice it.

The two of them made their way back to the village and managed to find the path that they were sure would lead to their target. As they continued along they didn’t want to remain in complete silence and some conversation was exchanged between the two.

**“So, are we still doing Omega’s plan?”** Zala asked, as he walked behind Shai. Shai looked over his shoulder as the continued.

**“Yeah, of course, why wouldn’t we?”** Shai questioned, getting frustrated with Zala’s stupid question.

**“I just think it’s weird. We’re still following Dazir’s orders, but Omega is our leader, I don’t get it,”** Zala explained. Shai stopped, sighed and turned around.

**“Look, Omega has bigger plans. You know this. Dazir is just helping him with a small part of this plan, which for some reason involves this kid. Something about Saiyan, whatever that means. All we have to do is follow, and listen, and then Omega will get what he needs,”** Shai explained, with Zala starting to actually make sense of it all. He nodded along. **“Plus, we don’t have much to do, we just need to make sure that Omega gets the information he needs.”**

**“I get it now, so, do you have the device?”** Zala asked. Shai nodded and continued to walk along the path. They started to head up into the more mountainous route as they noticed the valley below. There was a little bit of a campfire light coming from down there.

**“Bingo,”** Shai said in a hushed tone. **“We found them.”**

**“I’ll let Dazir know,”** Zala said as he pulled out a small walkie-talkie. He started to relay the information but neither of them paid attention to the fact that it was only Noca and Holline, and Android #17 was nowhere to be seen.

*

The two youngsters sat in their little make-shift camp. Noca was laying down, staring right up into the sky while Holline sat close to the fire, writing something in a journal she had been carrying with her. She was also trying to sketch the mountains in the journal as well and wished that the moon wasn’t hidden away so she could have a much better image to draw. Noca could hear to scratches of pen on paper and sat up.

Oddly enough, the whole night, Noca’s senses had been heightened and he seemed to be getting an uneasy feeling. He assumed he had been coming down with some sort of cold, or something. They had been outside a lot. It didn’t feel like an illness or something, he was almost certain he wasn’t sick, but that didn’t change the fact that his hearing was sharpened, as was his sense of smell. Plus, he could feel energy. He wasn’t sure where it was coming from, but it wasn’t familiar. Noca needed to take his mind off of it.

He moved closer to Holline beside the fire.

**“What’re you doing?”** He asked, somehow surprising Holline who wasn’t aware of his movement.

**“Son of a… NOCA! Don’t sneak up on me!”** Holline exclaimed, closing her book and shifting to the side. Noca pulled away with his hands held up.

**“Sorry, I was only laying down over there, were you so engrossed in your journal that you didn’t see me?”** Noca asked, chuckling lightly. Holline tried to stifle a small smirk. She was happy to see Noca keeping in good spirits, even though it ought to be extremely difficult to do so.

**“As a matter of fact, I was enjoying drawing those mountains, I just wish the moon wasn’t hiding away behind them, it seems so bright tonight,”** Holline said, pointing up with her pen. Noca looked towards the mountains and could see the faint glimmer of moonlight around the edges of the mountain. His smile faded as his mind instantly continued to wander down the negative path, plus there was an odd chill that ran down his spine. He looked into the fire and then over to his friend, she had gone back to her journal but Noca had something on his chest that he really needed to get off and he wasn’t going to keep it from Holline.

**“I still think I’m the reason my mom was killed** ,” Noca said, dropping that right into the conversation. That caused Holline to lose concentration and her pen slipped down the page of her book. She turned to look at Noca as he stared into the fire and she saw the look of certainty. She opened her mouth to protest but Noca turned to face her, he was completely serious. **“I mean it. Look at what’s happened since I left. Omega and his thugs, they attacked and knew I was a Saiyan. This weird magic guy, he and his guys knew who I was as well. Knew what I was.”**

Noca drifted as he looked back into the fire.

**“That doesn’t make anything your fault,”** Holline said, scooting closer to her friend. Noca turned back to her.

**“They’re after me, they clearly tried to do something to me back then and they were going to hurt you to get to me,”** Noca said, getting more irritated at the thought. Holline held his hand to try and calm him.

**“Omega’s thugs were attacking my village before you got there, Noca,”** Holline said, bringing up a valid point, even Noca couldn’t turn it down. **“Now, yeah, whatever happened, Omega may be interested in you, this little wizard has shown he wants you for something, but why does that mean your mom’s death is your fault?”**

Noca started to tear up as he avoided looking Holline in the face and continued to think over everything.

**“I lost her. Then you were attacked… and… now this, I just don’t think I can handle losing anyone else…”** Noca said as he started to sob. Holline took him into a hug and Noca did his best to stifle his emotion, but he had started to cry. **“I miss her so much.”**

**“I know you do,”** Holline whispered, trying so hard to be the good friend. She couldn’t handle seeing Noca like this, with this mindset.

**“I just feel like I’m going to keep causing bad things to happen, and I don’t want that for anyone,”** Noca said, as he started to calm down a little, but he was still clearly upset and angry with himself. He pulled out of Holline’s embrace and looked away, wiping the tears out of his eyes.

**“Noca, when they see you, they’re surprised that you’re a Saiyan. Omega didn’t attack my village because he was looking for you, he just… happened to find you,”** Holline said, struggling to defend her point. Noca scoffed.

**“But now he is after me, and he sent Dazir to find me… and they were going to hurt you,”** Noca said. His eyes were red from where he had been crying but they bore a new intense rage. **“I won’t let it happen.”**

**“Look, please try and get some sleep,”** Holline pleaded, holding his hands again. **“Rest and you’ll feel much better in the morning.”**

She couldn’t be sure that Noca would actually feel better, but she had to say something. This past month had been full of new experiences for her and it had been difficult, but she was still happy to be beside Noca, to be able to help him where he needed it. Noca took a deep breath and nodded, turning away and laying down, facing away from the fire. Holline decided she would sleep as well. #17 was probably monitoring them so they had nothing to worry about.

As Noca started to drift off there was still that itching feeling in the back of his mind telling him something was very wrong, but now he had attributed it to those thoughts about being the cause of the recent attacks. It wouldn’t help him sleep any easier at night either way, but he was tired and started to drift off.

Noca was right to feel a little uneasy as around the hills, Zala and Shai were patiently waiting for the arrival of Dazir and Yento. It didn’t take them too long and once they arrived the plan was put into motion. Zala and Shai were actually unaware of the plan and watched as Yento stepped forward and dropped down close to the camp. Dazir turned to the other two.

**“You two will remain here as our lookout, got it?”** Dazir commanded, with a snarling tone. They nodded in unison and looked to each other as the old man walked off down a different path, but it was also leading to the camp.

Yento was moving through the bushes and remained in the shadows, creeping closer to the two youngsters, moving in on his target. He was certain his plan would be flawless. The children were asleep so this wouldn’t be a difficult move to make. Yento saw Dazir hiding off on the other side, ready to make his big move when needed, but first Yento needed to make sure no mistakes were made, and he got what he needed.

He moved out of his cover, away from the protection of the shadows and close to the sleeping child. Noca could feel a change in the air flow, his unease started to grow, and he twitched ever so slightly. Something was wrong. That was confirmed when he heard the slight squeal and sudden muffled groan of his friend. He turned around and jumped up to his feet to see Dazir’s cloaked ally holding Holline back.

**“That was easy,”** Yento muttered, a slightly amused tone apparent in his voice. Noca clenched his fists and glared towards the enemy. He stepped forward. **“Woah, I wouldn’t do anything hasty if I were you. Wouldn’t want your pretty little friend here to get hurt, would you?”**

Noca was ready to fight and defend his friend, until he heard that threat. Noca was right, anyone that remained near him was at risk of being hurt. Holline assured him he was overthinking, but Noca felt his arms weaken and he lost a little of his fight. He didn’t know what to do. He was scared. And that was just the distraction Yento was looking for.

**“Now, Master!”** Yento yelled out. Noca heard some rustling and turned around to see Dazir emerging from the shadows. He threw his hands forward, casting some sort of spell with his magic, and Noca felt his body lock into position. Dazir was very happy with this development, he had done it.

Noca wasn’t feeling so good. He was stuck in that position and felt like there was a lot of pressure being pushed down on him. His knees buckled and he fell down, but was held completely still, he was just on his knees now. Whatever the magic was it was crackling all throughout Noca’s body and into his brain and he was in a lot of pain. It felt like every part of his body was being electrocuted. He wanted to scream but his jaw was stuck, he could only make pained growls. All the while, he was wondering where #17 was during all of this. Noca could only move his eyes and tried his best to look around but couldn’t see anything. Even Holline was behind him. The only thing he saw that helped ease his thoughts was the moon. It was no longer hidden behind the mountains and the light was brighter that he had ever seen it.

That’s when Noca’s mind relaxed. His senses sharpened. The pain in his body became an afterthought. Dazir began cackling as he could feel his magic flowing through Noca and having a much better effect.

**“Yes! That’s it! Soon your mind will be mine!”** Dazir yelled, but Noca couldn’t hear him anymore. The moon was more important. Noca’s senses were firmly locked onto the moon. Every fibre of his being was drawing in whatever the moon was giving off.

This was the first time Noca had ever seen the Full Moon.

Something began to happen to Noca and everyone else saw it. Holline was confused, but she wasn’t the only one. Apparently, this wasn’t what Yento had been expecting either. His grip started to loosen. Yento was just staring at Noca and then looked to Dazir who didn’t seem to think anything was wrong, but something was definitely happening to Noca. His body seemed to bulk up, quite a bit and his eyes were wide and very, very focussed. Yento wanted to call out to his master but wasn’t given the chance to do anything as #17 finally returned, kicked the cloaked man away and caught Holline, flying her to safety up on the rocks, and then returned to the ground. He landed not too far from Noca.

Dazir finally started to notice a difference and his eyes went wide with shock, and a little fear seeped in as he saw what was happening. Noca was growing. Significantly. And he had fur. Noca was becoming an Oozaru. #17 knew about this, it was deep in his memory banks thanks to Dr. Gero. The Android wasn’t sure what to do but heard a voice calling out to him, it belonged to Holline.

**“#17, please make sure he doesn’t hurt anyone!”** She yelled down to him. #17 wasn’t sure what she was getting at. **“Noca can’t have any blood on his hands, please, whatever this is, stop it!”**

The Android nodded and looked to Dazir.

**“Hey! Dazir, get out of here. You’ll be killed!”** He yelled at the small old man, but Dazir wasn’t listening. #17 was about to move to get him out of the way but noticed something moving. Shai and Zala were hiding in the bushes, close to the camp. And Yento was still nearby. There were a lot of people in the area and Noca was finally at full size and broke free from Dazir’s magic. He dropped to the ground with a loud thud and looked forward, his red eyes falling upon Dazir.

Oozaru Noca stood up and began to pound his chest as he roared into the night sky.


	9. Stopping the Ape

**_Chapter 9: Stopping the Ape_ **

* * *

The Oozaru relaxed and the moment settled. No one made a sound. No one moved. The air was filled with an uneasy silence as the Oozaru slowly begun to shift and looked up, Dazir falling into its view once again. The monster grits its teeth and growled deeply, stepping forward towards the little old man. Dazir stepped back, stumbling and falling down, and with that the Oozaru was set off, breaking into a run and charging towards Dazir.

Android #17 reacted instantly to fly down and grab Dazir, dropping him out of the way. The little old man cowered and backed off, seeing the giant transformed Noca crash into the rocks. #17 looked down on him.

**“Leave, now,”** he demanded. Dazir looked up and chuckled nervously. The android couldn’t tell if this was something Dazir had wanted to see. Meanwhile, Shai and Zala were hidden away, still relatively near to the camping spot. They looked to each other.

**“We need to go,”** Shai said, grabbing Zala’s arm and rushing off into the woods.

**“Wait, did you leave it back there? Like Omega wanted?”** Zala asked, stalling them. Shai got annoyed with Zala and grabbed his arm again.

**“Yes, now come on!”**

The two rushed away, unnoticed by anybody else. Yento also remained near the camp, and he was slowly backing away into the forest, his eyes fixed on the monster that stood before him. He couldn’t quite contemplate what he was seeing. It was new. It was crazy. And it was scary. Yento turned and broke into a run, not thinking to even try and go back for his magic wielding Master. For a moment Yento saw clarity, and in that moment, he stopped running, for only a few seconds. He looked back at the Oozaru again, for a few seconds, and then he turned away again and continued running.

#17 had rushed out into the open again, hoping that he could somehow draw the Oozaru’s attention, but he wasn’t a fan of being crushed by a giant Saiyan. He knew what he could do to stop it, but it would never be easy. #17 breathed deeply and charged towards the Oozaru’s back end, aiming for the tail.

The Android didn’t notice that Dazir had moved from his spot, running out into the open again and attempting to use his magic on the giant monster again. This caught the Oozaru’s attention, and the magic did nothing. Whatever had happened in that transformation had changed Noca’s power. It was something new and far more intense. Dazir found his own magic flying back at him and he had to dodge. Because of this movement from the Oozaru, #17 had missed his target. He turned and saw Dazir as the Oozaru opened its mouth, appearing to charge up an energy blast. #17 knew that was dangerous and charged down in, grabbing onto Dazir and narrowly avoiding the energy wave as it swept through the trees, obliterating the ground. #17 flew through the carnage and reached another rocky area, dropping the old man down on a ledge.

**“Leave, or I won’t save you next time,”** #17 yelled into Dazir’s face before turning around and blasting off back towards the Oozaru Noca. The Oozaru didn’t see #17 fly off with Dazir so it assumed the target had been taken out and now turned around to see who else it could find. It was angry and slammed a hand into the rocks. Nearby, Holline was watching the madness and tried to find somewhere to run away but even though she wasn’t nearby, Oozaru Noca’s heightened senses picked up the movement and the monster instantly rushed towards the girl. She screamed as the ape came closer. Holline tried to make her way down the rocks, but slipped and fell, hurting herself into the process.

She was clumsily trying to get to safety, so the Oozaru was never going to lose track of her. She managed to get to her feet and rush towards the woods quickly, hoping that the monster would stay near the mountains. The thumping of its feet on the ground was shaking everything and Holline was losing her balance. The huge looming shadow terrified her, but she didn’t want to look back and kept moving.

#17 returned very quickly and threw a Ki blast into the Oozaru’s back. The monster turned and swiped towards the android and #17 cursed when he realised, he had an open target and could have gone for the tail. He thought about Holline’s safety first, which wasn’t a bad thing, but he could have ended the whole ordeal quicker. Holline looked up at the giant creature as it swung its arms around trying to swat #17 away like a bug. She was frozen from fear and couldn’t bring herself to move. Her legs were trembling, and she just wanted to collapse and curl up into a ball, but when the Oozaru opened its mouth again, firing an energy wave that soared into the air, she finally found her energy and turned, running into the dark woods, to safety.

She didn’t stop until it sounded like the carnage was further away. She fell to her knees and started to cry, believing that she had lost Noca completely. This wasn’t something she knew he was capable of, Noca had never mentioned it and she had no idea what could have caused such a terrible thing to happen. She was too engrossed by her own fear and sadness that she didn’t noticed when things fell silent. At least not right away. She wiped away some tears and started to hear rustling above her. She looked up to see birds flying out of the trees and moving away. Even some of the woodland animals were running past her and away. That’s when she heard a rushing noise behind her, accompanied by some quick thumps. The monster was coming for her. She stood up and started to run again as she could see the creature coming ever closer.

While trying to run through the darkness, trying to avoid fallen branches, logs, and rocks on the ground, Holline tripped and fell flat, turning around to see the monster as it slowed, coming to a halt and looking down on her. Holline was breathing very heavily and trying to get words out but there weren’t any sounds, just breaths. Eventually she said something.

**“Noca…”**

The Oozaru stopped and growled, leaning closer. Holline tried to back up as it got closer to her. She could feel it’s breath like a gust of wind. She sobbed and closed her eyes. The Oozaru grit its teeth and growled again, lifting a hand slowly. The next thing Holline felt was the contact of skin on her own and the wind sweeping through her hair. She opened her eyes and saw she was in #17’s arms. He flew her to another mountainous ledge and set her down. He was looking worse for wear. A couple of cuts on his face, and his clothes were roughed up and damaged.

**“Are you ok?”** She asked. #17 nodded.

**“You?”** #17 asked, looking down at her legs. One of Holline’s trouser legs had been torn a little and her knee was bleeding. Holline looked down and noticed, suddenly the pain kicked in and she knelt down slightly. **“Rest up here, I need to try and stop him,”** #17 said, his tone turning very serious.

Holline reacted and stood up quickly, her leg basically giving out.

**“You’re not going to kill him, are you?”** She asked frantically.

**“No. Of course not. No. I’ll just cut off his tail,”** #17 assured her, but that didn’t seem to make sense in Holline’s head. She just looked back at him with a furrowed brow. **“That’s why he transformed. A Saiyan that still has their tail will become this creature when there’s a full moon. I guess in all his thirteen years this is the first full moon the kid got to look at.”**

**“Like a were-wolf? Or a man-wolf?”** Holline questioned. #17 turned back to her and nodded. **“That’ll put him back to normal?”**

#17 nodded again and turned to face towards the monster, whom was looking around on the ground trying to find its targets. #17 told the girl to stay put and blasted off back towards the Oozaru. Holline walked to the edge of where she was standing and looked out at the android. She stood incredibly still but couldn’t shake off the anxious and terrified feeling. She knew it wasn’t unreasonable to feel like that considering the current predicament, but when she looked out and saw that thing, as far as she was concerned, it just wasn’t Noca. That’s what was messing with her the most.

The whole scenario was odd, and new, and just not the kind of thing she had ever expected to witness in her life. She wanted to run away and hide, find somewhere to curl up and cry, but her love for her friend and determination to see him safe again kept her standing right there, watching on as this person, or android rather, risked their life to protect her and save her friend.

Her eyes were being opened to more of the world and even though she wanted to be there for Noca in every possible way, she wasn’t sure she could handle it all. But those weren’t thoughts she could focus on. She needed to remain in the moment, in case she was somehow needed.

#17 flew right up to the Oozaru and knew he needed to do something to get to that tail. It was the only way to sort things out without causing too much damage. There was no way of naturally beating this thing and it would just cause too much damage if left to rampage through the night. The habitats of so much wildlife was at risk. The Android dodged out of the way as one of the Oozaru’s large arms swiped down towards him. He moved closer to the monster so that it would be harder for it to get any hits in.

#17 started to move down and tried to wrap around and get to the tail, he powered up some energy around his arm, preparing to reach his target. With a sudden swift movement, the ape kicked back, striking the android and throwing him into some trees. The Oozaru lost balance when doing this and fell forward, landing hard. #17 got back to his feet and shot from the trees, flying right for the tail.

The Oozaru turned around and opened its mouth, another large energy wave exploded from within and #17 had to dodge out of the way of the large attack, but it didn’t stop. The Oozaru moved its head while continuing the blast, attempting to hit #17. The android continued to fly, just out of reach of the energy, but the blast was tearing up at the ground around and ruining everything. #17 was starting to get angry and knew something had to be done.

He knew the Oozaru wouldn’t be able to keep the blast going for too long, so he had to wait just a little bit longer and then find the right moment to strike. Soon enough, the wave stopped and #17 threw an energy wave up at the Oozaru’s face. There wasn’t a lot of power in it, the android just wanted to distract it so that he could get to the tail. The blast hit the Oozaru in the face and it let out a roar as it jumped up and landed down on the ground with a huge thud. The ground shook and #17 lost his balance and as he went to fly up a large hand came down with another thud.

In this distance, Holline saw this and was sure that #17 had just been flattened by the Oozaru, but almost immediately after the Oozaru reacted with a pained roar and pulled its hand away, revealing #17 with a green energy ball around his body. The monster crawled away, making sure to face #17, not exposing the tail. The monster roared again, trying to assert dominance as #17 let his energy barrier fade away. He fell to the ground, to his knees and breathed deeply. He stood up again as the Oozaru dug its hand into the ground and snarled, moving up, ready into a charging position. #17 chuckled and powered up Ki around both his hand.

The Oozaru clenched both hands into the ground and pulled up as it powered up more energy in its mouth. #17 stepped back a couple of time, planning to wait until the very last moment to fly away from the attack, or in for his own attack. But what happened next wasn’t predictable for either Oozaru or android.

**“Hey!”** Yelled a voice from the distance. Not too far, but not too near. It was Holline, standing on that ledge. Her hands cupped around her mouth, with a determined expression plastered on her face. She took a deep breath and yelled out again. **“Come over here, monster!”**

The Oozaru seemed to react to her worlds and snarled again before letting out another tremendous roar. It turned, kicked back in the dirt and broke into a charge. Holline’s hands fell to her sides as she didn’t anticipate what she would do next but hoped that #17 saw what to do. The android chuckled as he jumped up and flew after the Oozaru, he reached where he was going for the whole time and sliced with both hands in a scissor like motion.

All of a sudden, the Oozaru stopped and let out a huge pained cry as it looked back. It was wide-eyed and clearly feeling the loss of its tail. It was basically screaming out as it stumbled around drunkenly, stepping all over the place. #17 jumped away and flew up to get to safety as the monster started to shrink and fell forward. The fur started to vanish as the monster returned to the size of a human pre-teen.

Silence fell over the area and Holline let out a relieved sigh and fell to her knees, finally overcome with emotion and letting it flow. She quickly wiped it away and tried to find a way down to the valley to check and see if Noca really was ok. #17 had dropped from the sky and stood beside Noca’s naked body. He looked down at the kid and then at all the damage that had been caused. Saiyans really were dangerous.

Holline had managed to get down and ran over to Noca and dropped to the ground beside him. She quickly realised that he was naked, and she pulled away, feeling a bit awkward.

**“Is he ok?”** She asked, still worried that something would go wrong. #17 nodded.

**“He’ll be fine once he has rested for a bit,”** #17 took off his jacket and wrapped it around Noca and lifted him up. Holline looked around at the mess.

**“Where’s our stuff?”** She asked, nervously, worried that it had been damaged or lost.

**“Let’s get to safety and then I’ll come back and find it all,”** #17 said, He told Holline to hold on to him as he flew off with both kids and set them down somewhere safe and away from the damaged area. He then flew off back towards their former campsite to gather all of their stuff. Holline sat beside Noca as he slept wrapped up in #17’s jacket. She watched him, he seemed to be sleeping really peacefully, which was pretty much a first on this journey, but it was probably because all of that action had exhausted him. Holline lay closer to her friend and ended up drifting off before #17 returned.

*

Far away from that action, in the land of the Moori forest, Pan was up in her bedroom sitting at her desk, working away on her laptop. She was doing her best to get through the homework even though she would rather be doing anything else. It was Maths work, which she would typically do well with, thanks to her father, but she very rarely accepted any help as she got older, believing she was more than capable of getting it done on her own. After getting stuck on a particularly difficult algebraic equation she decided to give herself a well-deserved break and shut her laptop.

She got up and went to sit on her windowsill and looked out at the moon. A full moon that night, it was always fascinating to see those, especially with the knowledge of what would typically happen to Saiyan’s in the event of a full moon. Luckily none of the Saiyans she knew no longer had their tails. No carnage and disruption on those nights, although it did affect the adults differently to the kids. Pan didn’t know when those changes started but she and Bra would be the first of the Human-Saiyan hybrids to experience the changes that the female Saiyans went through. It was an odd thing to think about.

One thing that the full moon always seemed to help with was Pan’s senses. She closed her eyes, taking in the night air and clearing her mind a little. That’s when something sparked in her mind and instantly, she knew what it was. Her eyes snapped open and she looked into the distance.

**“It’s you again,”** She said to herself, leaning forward out of her window and hoping to see something, or feel something more. **“It’s been a while.”**

Pan relaxed, leaning against the window frame and she was now sitting on the windowsill with her leg dangling off a little. She closed her eyes and started to bask in the company she was in. She still had no idea what she was feeling, but there was as certain familiarity building and she started to take it in and just embrace the company. It made her feel happy, and comfortable. She wasn’t sure she would ever understand it.

There was another spark in Pan’s mind, and she felt something more. Anger and violence. Her eyes snapped open and she returned to her bedroom after losing balance on the windowsill. She continued to look out as these new feelings overcame her.

**“What is it? What’s wrong?”** She asked, still talking to herself. There was pain and it was getting to her. She held her head and tried to shake off the feeling. She rushed out of her room and was about to go downstairs but the pain subsided and eventually dwindled away into a new peace. Pan felt cut off from the connection again and stood there trying to narrow in on it as it faded. **“No.”**

Pan didn’t realise how loud she had said that, and a voice called up to her.

**“Pan?”** It was Videl, **“Are you ok up there?”**

She sounded concerned about whatever was going on. Pan wasn’t sure how to react and tried to come up with something.

**“Uh… yeah, fine, just… wondering if I should get a snack,”** Pan lied, terribly. There was a pause and no reply from Videl immediately.

**“Oh, ok,”** Videl responded, clearly not convinced but she seemed to brush it off. **“Well, hopefully you come to a decision soon.”**

Pan chuckled nervously in response to that.

**“Yeah, me too,”** Pan said as she slowly returned to her room and closed the door without making any more noise. She sighed and looked out of her window while leaning against the door. **“Where did you go?”**

She seemed really disappointed that she lost the connection again and walked back over to her window, grabbing her chair on the way and sat down, looking out. She put her hands on the windowsill and rested her head on them while continuing to look out.

**“I wonder if I’ll ever get to meet you?”** Pan questioned as she smiled again, continuing to look out. She closed her eyes and continued to take in the fresh night air. **“Someday…”**

*

Meanwhile, far away from where Pan was, three people were training together. These three had been training together regularly for quite a while now. Two of them had been training together almost non-stop for the past 7 years. Locked in an intense spar were a young man with brown-skin and a black mohawk hairstyle, while the other was wearing a purple Gi and had green-skin, with antennae.

Piccolo was going toe-to-toe in a spar with Uub, while another man, wearing a light blue Gi, with a white belt, was watching the spar take place and monitoring everything that was happening. That man was none other than Son Goku. He looked up, with a smirk on his face, as he kept his attention fixed on the spar taking place before him.

The location was similar to the wastelands that Piccolo used to spend a lot of his time in, and similar to where the fight against Vegeta and Nappa had taken place all those years ago. Uub was firing energy blasts and desperately trying to land a hit on Piccolo as the experienced Namekian dodged around, almost easily.

The young man threw a large Ki blast down towards Piccolo with both hands and the Namekian phased from view, moving rapidly to avoid being hit and started to fly up towards Uub. Reacting anxiously, Uub continued to throw down Ki blasts but Piccolo swatted them away, reaching in front of Uub and spinning to try and kick him away. Uub ducked under the hit and went for an uppercut in Piccolo’s face. The Namekian managed to pull away from the attempt and kicked Uub in the back.

Uub rolled forward in the air and landed on a rock, turning around as Piccolo dropped in rapidly. Uub had to jump away to avoid being hit and let the Namekian crash right into the rocks, obliterating them. The rubble floated up and Uub tried to focus through it to see Piccolo’s next move, but he had started to phase around and move so quickly that Uub couldn’t quite focus his vision accurately enough. Piccolo had moved closer to Uub and managed to slam a strong right jab against Uub’s cheek and knocked him flying back.

The young man powered out his aura to stop himself and took his arms to his side, rapidly powering up an attack.

**“Kame-Hame,”** Uub started as the energy in his hands started to form. Piccolo charged forward and Uub threw his hands out **“Ha.”**

Uub was about to fire the attack but Piccolo kicked his hands up, so the blast went soaring into the air and there was an easy opening for Piccolo. He jabbed forward towards Uub’s chest, but the young man raised his leg so that Piccolo struck his knee. That didn’t help too much as the punch was still strong and Uub reacted to the hit but managed to pull away and threw a barrage of blasts point blank at Piccolo. The Namekian did his best to swat every one of them away but they were getting a bit much, so he stopped it another way. He put up an energy barrier around his body, moving into a ball and then threw his arms and legs out. This threw the energy barrier out and Uub was knocked back again.

Goku watched Uub go rolling back through the air again but briefly set his foot down on a plateau and go blasting towards Piccolo again. The Saiyan was impressed by his student’s will to keep going with it all and he was pleased that the young man had made tremendous progress. Goku’s focus was soon snapped away for a second and he turned to look in a different direction entirely.

He raised an eyebrow and then smirk.

**“Isn’t that something,”** He muttered to himself. Goku turned back to look at the two fighters, **“Hey guys, take a break.”**

Uub suddenly stopped and looked down to Goku with a confused expression. He looked up at Piccolo and saw that the Namekian had already dropped his stance and started to descend. Uub followed.

**“Come on, Goku. I nearly had him!”** Uub said, getting a bit annoyed. Goku chuckled, and Piccolo scoffed.

**“You were getting a bit tired Uub, you were putting too much into your attack and losing stamina,”** Goku explained. **“Yeah, you were evenly matched, to an extent, but Piccolo would have won in the end.”**

Piccolo snapped his fingers as his cape and turban reappeared on his body and he crossed his arms.

**“This was a good sparring session though, I can see you’ve learned a lot since the last time I was here,”** Piccolo said, smirking, but that vanished as he turned back to Goku, **“But why did you stop it?”**

Goku looked at Piccolo with a knowing smile, Piccolo didn’t get it, but the Saiyan clearly knew something that he didn’t. Goku turned to face his student again.

**“Give me a hundred laps around the wasteland, Uub,”** Goku instructed his student. Uub sighed but obliged and took off on a jog. Goku started to ascend to a higher point and looked out into the distance at the full moon. Piccolo joined him. **“Do you feel that?”**

**“Feel what, Uub’s growing power?”** Piccolo questioned. Goku shook his head.

**“I thought you wouldn’t feel it. There’s a new energy I’m sensing,”** Goku explained. Piccolo seemed tense.

**“A threat?”**

**“No. This energy isn’t that powerful, from what I can tell. At least not yet,”** Goku went on. Piccolo faced his friend and his brow furrowed.

**“Who is it?”**

**“I have no idea, but from what I can tell they’re a Saiyan, and that means their potential is endless,”** Goku continued. He looked down at Uub running around the wasteland. Piccolo looked at Goku and then down at Uub.

**“I think you should keep your focus on training Uub before you go off looking for another student,”** Piccolo suggested. Goku laughed and looked at the moon again.

**“I guess you’re right.”**


	10. Training with Energy

**_Chapter 10: Training with Energy_ **

* * *

_Friday 20 th October Age 791_

The events of the previous night had left Noca feeling so wiped out that he managed to sleep all the way until the next morning. Even when Holline had fallen asleep she too managed to go all the way to the next morning, in that same spot as well. Noca was still sleeping inside Android #17’s coat with Holline laying right beside him. In the night, when he returned to the two youngsters, #17 had placed a blanket over the two of them to keep them warm and comfortable. The android himself didn’t even sleep that night and stayed in the same spot, watching over them.

It was about 6am when Noca finally shifted and opened his eyes. He immediately noticed Holline was asleep next to him and smiled to himself, but things started to come back to him. He was drifting back to sleep again when his thoughts went to Dazir and Yento. His eyes snapped back open and he sat up to see #17 sitting there, watching him.

It didn’t take the boy long to realise that he wasn’t wearing any clothes and only a big coat. He started to feel self-conscious and wrapped the coat tightly around him.

**“What happened? Where are Dazir and Yento?”** Noca asked immediately. He then looked to Holline, still asleep, and down at himself. **“And what happened to my clothes?”**

**“You remember nothing?”** #17 asked. Noca shook his head. #17 looked away, clearly thinking deeply. Noca stood up, causing Holline to shuffle a little. He immediately went to walk to his bag and seemed to be off balance, stumbling and falling down. #17 stood up and caught him. **“Careful, it’ll probably take you a second to adjust.”**

**“Thanks, I need to put some clothes on,”** Noca said, getting to his bag and pulling out a random plain t-shirt and some jogging bottoms. Holline started to yawn and stretch and finally opened her eyes. She looked around and saw Noca and #17 were both awake and standing. She didn’t say anything, but upon seeing Noca she was suddenly wide-awake. She stood up and drew the attentions of both. She saw the look of confusion on Noca’s face and could have sworn that #17 looked a little anxious. Holline had to admit, to herself, that she was a little nervous to be around Noca now but hoped for some sort of explanation.

**“You alright, Holline?”** Noca asked. Holline opened her mouth to speak but found she couldn’t find the words she really wanted to say. Noca looked down and saw her ripped trousers and the dried blood. **“What happened? Is that from yesterday? What did they do?”**

Noca was getting a bit riled up but as he started to move towards her, he lost balance again and this time hit the ground. He stood up, awkwardly and seemed angry.

**“What is going on?!”** Noca yelled, at himself more than anyone else, even though it did cause Holline to flinch slightly. Noca noticed it. **“Ok, seriously, what happened last night?”**

Noca looked at #17 and seemed really confused, worried, and a little bit scared. #17 sighed.

**“Until last night had you ever looked at the Full Moon before?”** #17 asked. Holline perked up, not expecting #17 to just flat out explain everything, but Noca didn’t need any deception.

**“What has that got to do with anything? No, I hadn’t seen a full moon before, why?”** Noca answered, he didn’t appreciate whatever secrecy was going on. Holline stepped up to be next to Noca and took his hand. She pushed past her anxiety to be beside her friend for something that must be difficult. Noca looked to her and quickly back to #17.

**“Saiyans have an ability, well many abilities, but this one specifically features the full moon,”** the Android started. Noca, with a furrowed brow, looked on. **“They turn into something called an Oozaru, a giant ape-like creature. Somehow whatever power comes from the moon can turn a Saiyan into this thing.”**

Noca nodded along. He may be young but even he could see where this conversation was going. He even felt Holline squeeze his hand a little bit.

**“Last night you looked at the full moon for the first time, and you transformed into one of those things,”** #17 dropped the bombshell that simply and Noca didn’t know what to say. **“It certainly scared Dazir and his goons.”**

Noca nodded and turned to Holline again, this time with more concern.

**“Did I cause that?”** Noca asked her, motioning to her leg.

**“I fell down while running,”** Holline said, hoping that would make Noca feel better, but he continued to make sense of the situation.

**“Running from me?”** He said, pulling his hand away and stepped away, still losing his balance a little. He put his head in his hands and stood in silence for a few seconds. **“Did anyone die?”**

**“No,”** Holline answered quickly, not wanting Noca to get onto that train of thought again. Noca shook his head, looked up, and turned back to face #17. He wobbled again and seemed really frustrated with himself.

**“Why don’t I remember it?”** Noca asked.

**“It is possible to learn how to control that form, but I imagine it takes a lot of practise,”** #17 explained. **“For your first time I imagine it was too much to take, so you become the beast and you were no longer you. Your mind couldn’t handle it.”**

Noca nodded.

**“How did you stop me? How did I turn back?”** Noca asked, clearly having more questions.

**“Well, it’s not permanent, it lasts as long as the full moon is in the sky, but we had to stop you sooner,”** #17 continued. He sighed. **“This will answer the question about why your balance is off. I had to cut off your tail.”**

Noca’s eyes went wide and he turned to look at his backside but lost balance in the process and fell to the ground again. He jumped up very quickly.

**“My tail is gone?”** Noca questioned, feeling quite a bit shocked. He looked back to #17. **“I don’t have a tail anymore?”**

**“It’s entirely possible for it to grow back at some point, but that depends on the person, I think,”** #17 explained as best as he could, **“I don’t know, it might never grow back.”**

Noca stood there for a few more seconds thinking over all the information he was given and looked back to Holline who smiled weakly. Noca sighed and turned back to face #17 with a small smirk.

**“It’s ok, I guess. I’ll adapt to it,”** Noca said. He sat down and still seemed to be processing everything. **“So, what’s next?”**

**“Well, I’m going to stay with you for a bit,”** #17 said, standing with his arms folded. Holline looked to him with an enquiring look and Noca looked up too. **“You used Ki energy last night, but you yourself haven’t demonstrated that ability, so I think I’ll teach you.”**

**“Teach me?”** Noca questioned and looked to Holline and then back to #17.

**“Yeah, why not? You could be an effective fighter if you really get a handle on things,”** #17 explained. **“Let’s make sure you get your balance back first.”**

Noca chuckled but was soon distracted by something and brought a hand to his stomach.

**“You alright?”** Holline asked.

**“Yeah, but have we got any food? I’m starving,”** Noca said, looking at both of them. #17 shook his head and smirked, walking away. Holline chuckled and sat beside him, taking out her capsule to get them some food. Before he went any further, #17 stopped and turned back.

**“I’m going to scout ahead a little bit, find a good route for us to take,”** He said, and then looked specifically at Noca. **“We’ll head out tomorrow morning and we’ll beginning training the day after, take today to rest up.”**

Noca nodded and smiled. He was enthusiastic about beginning some form of proper training, even it wasn’t going to be with Son Goku just yet, it was still hopefully going to be enough to get him to a good standard when he finally did reach Goku.

*

_Saturday 21 st October Age 791_

As soon as Noca was up and awake the next morning he noticed that #17 was already waiting for him. They were going to get into it as soon as they could. No sense in delaying it any further. After a whole day of rest, it was time for their training to start, and #17 wasn’t planning on simplifying or making things too easy for the kid. It was important that he learn how to control things.

Holline was still sleeping so the two of them headed away from the camp a little to somewhere more open for what the Android had planned. Noca was nervous and #17 could tell.

**“Let’s get started, sit down,”** #17 instructed. Noca slowly sat on the ground and crossed his legs. #17 remained standing.

**“Observe,”** he said, holding his hand out and forming a small energy ball just inches above his palm. **“This is Ki energy.”**

Noca leaned forward a little, his eyes transfixed on the ball.

**“That’s cool,”** Noca said, smiling a little. #17 scoffed and pushed the ball towards Noca. It wasn’t powerful, but it did manage to push Noca onto his back. Noca sat up quickly, **“What was that for?”**

**“That’s just one way to use Ki, but it isn’t necessarily the most effective way to use it,”** #17 explained. **“As an Android this doesn’t apply to me, I don’t manipulate Ki the same way a normal human, or Saiyan, would.”**

**“That energy can be most effectively used to help amplify your battle power. At the moment, your battle power is fuelled primarily by your emotions and instinct. But when you learn to have a grip on the energy you hold within you could potentially be a formidable opponent.”**

Noca nodded along.

**“I can’t specifically explain how you personally can bring out that energy, but you have it inside you,”** #17 continued. **“You just need to search within, find where its hidden, and tap into it. Bring it out.”**

There was a pause as Noca’s brow furrowed and he started to think on those words. He looked down at his hands and stared at them, until #17 spoke again.

**“Noca, I want you to try and form a small energy ball,”** #17 requested, **“That’s what I aim for you to have done by the end of this first session.”**

Noca looked up and his eyes went a little wider as he contemplated how he would even attempt that. He shifted on the ground and took a breath.

**“Take your time and relax. Search within and I’m sure you’ll find what it is that feeds you your energy,”** #17 explained as he moved and took a seat on a rock to watch.

Noca was completely silent aside from his steady and quiet breathing. He had closed his eyes and took a few deep breaths and tried with all the might he thought necessary to perform this task. He had learned that meditation was effective for training and focus before a fight, it was still very new to him, but it was all he could do in that moment.

He remained sitting with his eyes closed and his hands held out in front of him. He looked inside, deep in his own body and tried to find that place. He began to shut off from the surroundings, aside from the sound of the birds in the trees, the wind passing by his ears, and… strangely enough, the steady breathing of Holline as she slept. His range was wide, and he was incredibly aware of his surroundings even though his eyes were closed. It was a little distracting and Noca found his attention being pulled more to those noises than the task ahead.

He twitched a little as he brought his attention back and refocussed on his energy. He put his hands closer together and pushed his focus more and more in front of him. He started to breathe in but suddenly let that breath out and felt a warmth in front of him. His eyes snapped open and for a brief moment he saw the glow of an energy ball right in the middle of his hands, but Noca lost his focus almost immediately and suddenly felt light-headed.

He smiled and chuckled to himself, realising that he had done it. Even if it was only brief, he had begun to scratch the surface of a very deep well.

**“That was it…”** Noca said, his breathing gradually returning to normal. #17 walked forward.

**“It was a good first step. But that’s all it was. No breakthrough, just the start,”** #17 said, seemingly invalidating the small victory Noca had achieved. The Saiyan boy didn’t appreciate that but understood that at the end of the day, it was such a small step. **“But the more you practise, the easier it will become to tap in.”**

**“Now that you know what you need to do to form that energy, I want you disregard using it to create attacks,”** #17 explained. Noca was perplexed by that instruction, he thought that’s what the training was about. **“I want you to focus instead on learning how to apply that to when you fight. To increase your strength in combat.”**

Noca nodded, he understood and was eager to get on with some more training. He slowly stood up and realised that the energy use had taken a lot out of him and he swayed for a second but managed to compose himself.

**“Take a quick rest, sit and eat something, then we’ll have a spar,”** the Android said, but as Noca went to walk off he was stopped by a strong hand on his shoulder. **“My only rule for when we fight, I won’t use my own Ki energy unless I feel you tapping into your instincts.”**

**“What do you mean?”** Noca asked.

**“When you’ve fought before you had to rely on instinct to get you out of tough situations, but you need to learn how to control that power rather than let it control you, got it?”** #17 explained. Noca could tell it was a very serious instruction, it was important. Noca nodded and walked off to grab something to eat before his spar.

Holline was already awake once Noca returned to the camp, although it seemed like she never even noticed he had gone anywhere. The two made a quick breakfast together while #17 remained over in the area they had been training in. It was a quiet breakfast. Holline was still half-asleep, and Noca was busy thinking about what he would need to do in the spar with #17.

He needed to try and fight without instinct, which in his young mind still made little to no sense. Trying to figure how to supress his own instinct when also having to focus on fighting against an opponent seemed like a lot to manage. And how was he meant to stop his own instinct from coming out and controlling his fighting strength. This didn’t seem like a thing he was capable of doing and it only managed to bring on some anxious thoughts. The upcoming sparring session started to worry the young Saiyan.

Holline noticed he wasn’t eating and seemed incredibly deep in thought. The expression on his face told more than Noca would admit and Holline definitely noticed. She leaned over and nudged Noca softly, bringing him back to the moment. She smiled and motioned to the food in front of him. Noca smirked back to her and started to eat.

Once Noca was finished with his food he knew it was time to go over and meet #17 for the sparring session. He made sure to invite Holline to come and watch the training, not wanting her to be left alone on her own all day. She accepted the invitation, excited to see Noca make progress with his training, even though the Saiyan was worried that he wouldn’t make any progress that quickly.

The two youngsters arrived at the open area and saw that #17 was still standing in the open, apparently waiting for Noca. He looked up as the boy stepped into the open. Holline noticed a place for her to sit and watch and quickly rushed over by a large log and sat down. Noca gingerly walked over to #17 and stayed a bout 10 feet in front of him. The Android cracked his neck and smirked.

**“Are you ready for this?”** He asked, as he looked Noca up and down and noticed the boy was standing a little bit stiff. Noca took a breath straightened his back and loosened up his shoulders. He took a couple of steps back and moved into a stance. He stood side on with his left foot forward and his left arm up in a defensive position, with his right pulled back by his head, with the fist clenched. #17 scoffed. **“Just make the first move when you’re ready.”**

Noca started running forward towards the android. #17 smirked and, just as Noca swung for a punch, he jumped up over the Saiyan boy and kicked back into his head. Noca fell forward with a thud but managed to quickly get up and turn around only for #17 to move in front of him and plant a punch in his face. Noca was thrown back, landing on the ground again. He didn’t get up straight away, looking up at #17 with a bit of a glare. The android winked and took a few steps back. Noca returned to his feet, moving back into his stance, slowly.

#17 didn’t waste time or give Noca the chance to prepare and kicked him in the gut, knocking him back into the ground. Noca was gripping his stomach and writhed in pain for a second.

**“You didn’t give me a chance to get ready,”** Noca exclaimed, standing back up, but instantly feeling the pain again and wincing.

**“A real opponent wouldn’t give you that chance,”** #17 informed the boy before sweeping his legs out from under him and watching Noca hit the ground again. #17 then moved swiftly and planted a strong punch into the ground right beside Noca’s head. Noca closed his eyes as the punch shot down towards him.

Noca opened his eyes and looked to the side. He was surprised #17 didn’t hit him.

**“I’m not going to make this easy for you, otherwise you’ll never learn,”** the android instructed, standing up and turning his back on the boy. **“Maybe I should just let you rest.”**

Noca growled and jumped up to his feet, darting forward with a punch aimed for the back of #17’s head. #17 turned around swiftly and caught Noca’s fist inches from his face. He smirked.

**“You need to think about your attacks before you make them,”** #17 pulled the boy closer to him and sent a knee crashing into Noca’s gut. The young Saiyan coughed and dropped to his knees once #17 let go. The Android stepped back and looked down on Noca.

**“Stop hurting him!”** Holline shouted out. #17 scoffed and looked at the girl.

**“This is what training looks like,”** He told her. Noca stood up again and yelled as he aimed a punch at #17 unguarded gut. The android looked back and easily stepped away, letting Noca miss. The boy turned around, clearly agitated by the way the session had been going. He had something to prove. He swung another fist but #17 avoided it again, simply by stepping back. Noca yelled again and there was a hit of aura around him that #17 picked up on as the boy jumped up and threw a punch into #17 face.

The android caught Noca’s wrist, kicked the boy in the gut again and threw him back. Noca crashed into the ground and rolled away, stopping in a heap, unable to get up. He tried but every time fell down flat.

**“I told you not to let your instinct control you, but to learn to control it,”** #17 said, clearly disappointed in what he had seen. **“Clearly you’re not ready for this just yet.”**

With that, the Android turned his back on the kids and walked on away from the battle area.

**“I’m going to scout ahead to find our next clear route, you two stay at the camp,”** #17 ordered before walking off beyond the trees. Noca continued to struggle to get to his feet and Holline had to run over to help him out.

#17 was right, maybe he wasn’t ready, for any of it.

*

_Wednesday 25 th October Age 791_

A few days pass by and Noca continues on with his meditation training. After the bad sparring session with #17 there was a lot he had left to learn, so going back to his meditation training was seen as the best to try and get in touch with his energy control a bit better. He was still fairly new to meditation but had tried it a few times by this point and was getting used to the relaxed state of mind.

That was until he was usually distracted by the odd sound around him, or Holline trying to get his attention. It was a frustrating time, but he kept at it.

*

_Monday 30 th October Age 791_

#17 started trying to draw Noca more into the sparring after his time meditating and getting a better grasp on the fact that there was energy within him that he needed to tap into. It was still a difficult time with Noca letting his frustration get too much control of him and his instincts not doing what he wanted, meaning that his attacks were sloppy and easy to read. #17 would typically stay a few steps ahead of Noca and was constantly outpacing the young Saiyan.

Noca’s anger at himself would only grow and he would easily tire himself out.

*

_Friday 3 rd November Age 791_

Most of the days were blending together more and more with Noca repeating the same things. Meditation, sparring, energy training. Those were the main activities that controlled Noca’s time on his travels. It was starting to feel like he was getting a grip on bringing out some of his abilities, but it wasn’t easy. It took an intense amount of concentration from the young Saiyan and the meditation sessions were having a clear effect. Even the sparring was feeling better with Noca able to match some of #17’s moves, that was until the android would step it up showing that Noca still had so much further to go.

As for actual energy and Ki control, Noca was learning how to create small energy balls, but couldn’t maintain them for very long, and he was still unsure of how to bring out his aura but was very aware of its existence.

*

_Thursday 9 th November Age 791_

After a decent sparring session, Noca was tired and hurting. It was late and the trio were relaxing by the fire. Holline was turned away from the other two, sleeping, while Noca was waiting for his injuries to pass. He was aching, but he accepted it was all part of the training. He would be much better off for it. #17 was just sitting there looking at the boy, questioning things in his head.

**“Did you know that Saiyans get stronger after every battle?”** #17 asked, seemingly out of the blue. Noca looked up, intrigued.

**“Really? How do you mean?”** Noca asked.

**“Just, when a Saiyan is heavily injured, or brought to the brink of death, they can get a power boost that is permanent. As a warrior race, they always have to stay strong,”** #17 explained, with Noca watching and listening intently. **“They all take pride in their strength. But you don’t seem to come from that kind of Saiyan family dynamic.”**

Noca looked off and scoffed.

**“You’re right, I don’t. I had some martial arts training, but nothing serious. I was never made to think that someday I would have to fight for my life,”** Noca said, looking deep into the fire, but it only made him think back to the day that started it all. He shook it off and looked back to #17 smiling weakly. #17 raised a brow. **“I just had what I could consider a normal life…”**

**“What do you want out of life?”** #17 asked.

**“That’s a heavy question,”** Noca said, clearly confused.

**“Everybody has something they want, what do you want?”** #17 asked again. Noca chuckled lightly and looked back at the fire before remembering why he looked away in the first place. He looked back to #17.

**“I don’t know, I haven’t thought that far ahead I guess,”** Noca answered. Looking down at the cup in his hand. He was trying to avoid the question. Meanwhile, over to the other side, lying facing away, Holline wasn’t asleep, and was listening to the conversation.

**“Really?”** #17 questioned, looking at Noca. Staring at him. Noca slowly looked up awkwardly, starting to feel uncomfortable.

**“Ok, I need to find Goku and…”** Noca started, #17 interrupting immediately by chuckling.

**“No, that’s something you need to do. That’s something you’ve been told to do,”** #17 said, leaning forward. **“What do you personally want out of your life?”**

**“Look, it’s a hard to question to answer when you’re thirteen years old. I don’t know,”** Noca said, getting agitated and breathing heavily, some of that emotion swelling up inside of him. He looked deep into the fire. **“Up until recently I just wanted to live a normal life, surrounded by the people I care about, the people I love. Just be happy. And I still want to be happy.”**

#17 listened to everything Noca was saying, trying to gauge who he really was.

**“Some people want to have a great job or something, I don’t have a job I aspire to, I lived in a village with little resources for that kind of thing, and I never imagined I’d be one day going to a city,”** Noca explained. He continued to stare into the fire, his eyes watery, and focussed. **“Now I genuinely want to train and become powerful… and find whoever is responsible for my mother’s death.”**

#17 could see now, Noca had never had a clearer mind, he was focussed solely on one thing, and he was crying. Holline was listening as intently as she could without making a noise.

**“I want to find them and kill them,”** Noca finished, taking a deep breath and seemingly waking up from a trance. He was filled with an intense awareness. He looked over to #17, the android seemed to understand him. Noca did his best to stop himself from crying anymore and nodded sombrely. **“I want them dead.”**

*

_Wednesday 15 th November Age 791_

It was about midday, Holline was in the camp preparing a lunch for herself and Noca. The young Saiyan, meanwhile, was in a sparring session with the Android. Noca had much better movement, his speed and focus were increasing. He still had a long way to go, but the improvement he had made was incredible. At least, it was incredible in his own eyes. #17 knew he was capable of much better but couldn’t deny that he was proud to see how far he had come in such a short space. The sparring session managed to come to a halt with them both standing. Obviously #17 was holding back, but he was glad to see that Noca had matched his level. They both stood about fifteen feet part. #17 was relaxed with a small smirk on his face. Noca had an intense stare but his breathing was a bit heavy.

**“You’ve done very well today, you’ve come far,”** #17 said, giving Noca some positive reassurance, which wasn’t a regular occurrence. Noca took it as a win.

**“Thanks, it’s because of your training,”** Noca said, maintaining a polite composure.

**“Go rest up,”** #17 said, motioning towards their camp. They were a lot closer to the mountains at this point and knew that once they had made their way around them, they would practically be in the clear with an open path to West City. Well, not quite that simple, but the journey was going to be a lot easier after the mountains. #17 watched as Noca walked off into the trees towards their camp and he seemed to be in thought.

Noca reached the camp and saw that Holline had prepared their food. He was pleased with that because the training session had taken it out of him.

**“Thanks, Holline,”** Noca said as he sat down and started eating, rapidly. Holline chuckled and started to eat her own. #17 finally walked over and Holline handed him some food. #17 took it and stood still for a minute still in thought.

**“Everything ok?”** Holline asked. #17 looked at Noca as the Saiyan looked up from his food.

**“You should go the rest of the way on your own,”** the android said, dropping that bomb in the middle of lunch.

**“What?”** Holline exclaimed. **“No, I’m staying with him.”**

**“Holline, you don’t understand, he needs to do this. It’s important. All of this, you, me, we’re distractions. Without us he can adapt and have complete focus in his training,”** #17 explained. Holline clearly didn’t like being called a distraction, standing up to argue back.

**“What do you know? I’m his best friend and I’m staying!”** She shouted. #17 wasn’t fazed by her demeanour and looked at Noca. He had set his food down and was looking down at the ground.

**“Noca agrees with me,”** #17 said. Holline made a confused face and looked over at Noca, sitting there, with nothing to say. A sense of calm on his face. Holline shook her head.

**“No…”** She uttered.

**“Holline, I…”** Noca started, but Holline shook her head again.

**“No…”** She said again, tears starting to form as she turned around and ran off to find somewhere to be alone. She barged past #17 who did nothing to stop her. Noca stood up and went to run after her but stopped next to #17.

**“I’m gonna need some time to talk to her about this,”** Noca said. #17 nodded. Noca breathed a heavy sigh and followed on after his friend.

He moved on through the trees and came to see a little stream running through the woods and Holline was sitting on a rock beside it, clearly crying. Noca stood away for a minute, watching her, trying to figure out the best thing to say. He swallowed and walked out, making his presence known.

**“Holline, I’m sorry,”** He said walking over and standing next to her. She didn’t move or say anything, she just continued to sob. Noca sat beside her and put his arm around her. She turned and wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug.

**“I don’t want to leave you alone,”** She said, though muffled by Noca’s shoulder.

**“I don’t want you to leave, but I know why you should,”** Noca said, trying his best to assure her this isn’t an easy decision. **“I love having you with me, I love that you support me, but this…”**

Noca pulled out of the hug and looked Holline in the eyes. They were red from crying and she had hair in the way. Noca brushed it away and smiled weakly.

**“This is something I have to do alone,”** Noca said. Holline wiped away her tears and sniffled.

**“I heard you the other night… talking about what you want to do…”** Holline said, clearly anxious about bringing this up. Noca blinked a couple of times, starting to get emotional himself and he looked away, at the stream. **“I understand.”**

**“I don’t want to kill anybody,”** Noca said, starting to get upset about it. **“But I want whoever is responsible to die, and if that has to be by my hand then so be it.”**

Holline hugged Noca again and he returned the embrace.

**“This isn’t goodbye forever, Holline,”** Noca assured her. **“We will see each other again. I will be coming back as soon as my training is complete.”**

**“I know,”** Holline said through sobs.

**“You will always be my best friend. I will miss you,”** Noca said, tightening the embrace. **“I will always love you.”**

**“I love you, too,”** Holline replied, still through her sobs, but she was starting to feel a lot better, but this was a hard moment for the red head. The two of them continued to sit in the position for a little bit until Holline finally stopped herself from crying. Noca walked her back to the camp and they started to gather their stuff. Noca kept what he would be needing, and the rest would go with Holline for the journey back.

**“You probably have about two or three months of travelling ahead of you,”** #17 told Noca. **“There will be a good path around the mountains. Should be simple enough to follow.”**

**“Thanks,”** Noca said, smiling and holding his hand out to shake #17’s. **“Thank you for all your help. Probably wouldn’t have made it this far without you.”**

A slight realisation hit Noca as he thought about actually being alone for the rest of this journey. #17 took his hand and shook it. Noca looked up.

**“You’ll be fine now,”** #17 assured him. **“And don’t worry about her, I’ll look after her. She’ll be safe.”**

**“Thank you,”** Noca said, one last time. They broke the handshake, and #17 started to walk away but Holline stayed there for a second, just looking at Noca. She rushed up to him and grabbed him in a tight embrace again.

**“Good luck. Be safe. I’m going to miss you,”** Holline said, she pulled back and planted a kiss on his cheek. Looked him in the eyes again and stepped back, holding back tears as best she could. **“Bye.”**

**“Bye, Holline,”** Noca said, smiling back at her. Holline walked back to #17 and the two of them walked away, she looked back as they went into the trees and finally out of view, leaving Noca standing there by himself.

The young Saiyan dropped his smile and took a deep breath. He turned around and walked away.

*

Meanwhile, somewhere far away, we return to a certain familiar Saiyan. Goku. Along with Piccolo and Uub.

**“Goku, I don’t know why you think this kid is someone,”** Piccolo said in a bemused fashion. **“Plus, you already have Uub, he’s a tremendous student.”**

**“Yeah, he is,”** Goku agreed, chuckling. **“I just need you to do this for me. Keep an eye on the kid, only intervene if you think it’s absolutely necessary. Otherwise, don’t let him know you’re there?”**

**“Whatever, Goku. As long as it keeps you focussed on training the student you already have,”** Piccolo said as he grunted and flew away, leaving Goku alone with Uub. The Saiyan looked down from a ridge and watched Uub in a meditative state.

**“This is gonna be interesting.”**


	11. Capsule Party

**_Chapter 11: Capsule Party_ **

* * *

_Friday 24 th November Age 791_

For Pan, it was yet again an ordinary school day. She was sat in her usual seat beside her blue-haired best friend and focussed on scribbling down words in her schoolbook. It was a normal literature lesson and the students had been tasked with an essay for that lesson. Pan wasn’t certain she completely understood the task, but she tried to make as much sense of it as she could while writing away.

Bra, meanwhile, wasn’t focussing too much on the work and instead had her eyes on the clock as it counted down towards lunchtime. This wasn’t usual behaviour for the girl, she actually enjoyed her school days, but this was a different day. Bra was looking forward to something, and when she had her mind focussed on something, she would become fairly stubborn, just like both her parents.

While Pan and Bra were busy with school, Capsule Corp. was getting a make-over. Bulma was rushing around ordering her robot staff to get things prepared.

**“Ok, I want those banners up there, and then have the balloons blown up and displayed all around the room,”** Bulma commanded, walking through the room and directing robots off in different directions. **“I want the tables for the buffet set up along that wall and the drinks machines over there.”**

A robot quickly rushed up to Bulma displaying an alert.

**“Oh, what is it now?”** Bulma asked, sounding a little frustrated.

**“Urgent request from the kitchen. You are needed there immediately,”** The robot relayed. Bulma sighed and walked off into the kitchen. As soon as she entered, she realised what the problem was right away, when she saw that Chi-Chi and Vegeta were standing together, and neither of them looked happy.

**“Will you please stop picking at the food that I am preparing for the party!”** Chi-Chi screamed in the Saiyan Prince’s face. Vegeta stepped back but wasn’t one to back down from any sort of challenge.

**“I am testing this stuff to see if it’s any good!”** Vegeta yelled in response. Chi-Chi seemed offended by that.

**“You really think I would approve any bad food!”** Chi-Chi responded, defending her taste in food and deep knowledge of cooking.

**“What is going on?”** Bulma said, as she walked up to the two of them. Vegeta immediately turned away, grabbing a plate of appetisers and gorging on them. He took a chance while Chi-Chi was distracted, but she was very much aware, grabbing the plate away from him.

**“Your husband keeps eating the food we are preparing here. I want him out of this kitchen!”** Chi-Chi said, clearly seeming very frustrated. Bulma chuckled and separated the two of them.

**“Ok, Vegeta, sweetheart, please leave the kitchen alone, go and train or something,”** Bulma said, as nicely as she could, while still retaining a commanding tone. Vegeta groaned.

**“I needed something to eat, and it’s not often I get good food cooked for me,”** Vegeta said, turning away, but Bulma wasn’t done.

**“Wait, what do you mean? I cook for you! Don’t you like my food?”** Bulma asked, apparently offended by that comment. Vegeta obviously realised what he said after the fact because he had frozen on the spot, not turning around. Bulma put her hands on her hips. **“Do you think I’m a bad cook?!”**

Vegeta started to walk away.

**“You’re right, I’m getting in the way,”** Vegeta said, rushing off back to his gravity training room. Bulma stood there for a few seconds, staring after her husband, her irritation clear on her face. She turned around, taking a breath to calm herself, and preparing to talk to Chi-Chi but saw the woman already standing over by one of the chefs, berating them about something.

**“No, no, NO! You’re doing it all wrong!”** Chi-Chi yelled at the chef. The chef winced, nervously and started apologising, asking to be shown properly. Bulma sighed and left the kitchen, knowing full well that Chi-Chi was in her element and had everything under control in there. When she stepped out into the hall space they were using, she saw that all the banners and balloons were set-up and looking good. Everywhere she looked there were banners and balloons saying things like “Happy Birthday, Bra” or “13 Today” and Bulma was pleased with how everything was looking.

**“Everything’s going perfectly for my baby girl’s birthday party!”** She said to herself.

Back at the school though, it was finally lunchtime and rather than finding one place to sit and have their food Bra was walking through the school trying to find the people she wanted to invite to her party later that evening. As they walked down the halls Bra would hand out invites to people she wanted to come to her party, all the while humming a happy tune, while Pan walked alongside her friend. Bra was always in a good mood whenever her birthday came around and Pan liked seeing her friend that way.

While at lunch they met up with Kiera as she was coming out of her lesson with some of her friends. Bra spotted her and rushed up to the blonde.

**“Hey, Kiera!”** Bra called out, drawing Kiera’s attention and then pulling her into a hug.

**“Oh, hi Bra, happy birthday,”** Kiera said, caught off-guard by the sudden hug. She spotted Pan over Bra’s shoulder and gave a little wave to the black-haired girl. Pan nodded and smiled.

**“You’re definitely coming to my party tonight, yeah?”** Bra asked.

**“Of course, my mom and I will both be along, Videl invited us already,”** Kiera replied.

**“Great, you can still have one of these though!”** Bra said, excitedly, as she handed over one of her perfectly made invites. Kiera looked at it.

**“Wow, these are great, thanks Bra,”** Kiera said, laughing a little nervously. **“I’ll make sure to cherish it forever.”**

Pan chuckled quietly. Bra was already moving on to the next person though and rushing off down the hall to find more people to invite.

**“She never stops,”** Pan said, remaining beside Kiera. **“You joining us for lunch? We’re just going to be walking around giving people invites.”**

**“As long as I can actually eat my lunch,”** Kiera joked. The two girls walked off, attempting to catch up with the energetic Bra. They soon noticed that Bra had stopped and was staring at a group of guys sitting at a table in the cafeteria. Bra’s eyes were focussed on one of the guys sitting there. A fair-haired boy, wearing a white polo top and a pair of blue jeans. The guys he was sitting with were almost all members of the school football team. Pan and Kiera stepped up beside Bra. Pan looked over to the group and back to her friend.

**“What’re you looking at?”** Pan asked her friend, a teasing tone in her voice. **“Or rather, who are you looking at?”**

**“What?”** Bra questioned, turning to face Pan and blushing. **“I… no one… shut up.”**

Pan chuckled and turned to Kiera, pointing out the guy Bra was looking at.

**“You see that guy?”** Pan questioned. Kiera looked over and her eyes fell on the same guy. She nodded. **“That’s Kareshi. Bra has had a crush on him forever.”**

**“Shut up, Pan!”** Bra said, trying to keep cool, but very much unable to.

**“Are you going to invite him to the party?”** Kiera asked the blue-haired girl. Bra blushed and looked over at the group again.

**“Maybe,”** Bra muttered, nervously. She definitely didn’t appear to have the confidence to just walk over and hand out the invitation, not with that many guys around him. Pan looked at her friend and then across at the table.

**“Fine,”** Pan said, grabbing an invite from Bra’s hand and proceeding to walk through the cafeteria towards the group. She was nervous too but knew that Bra would never do anything if she kept holding herself back. Pan was almost over there but suddenly Bra rushed up to her and stopped her.

**“Wait,”** Bra said, a little too loudly, and too close to the table. This drew their attention. Bra immediately knew she had grabbed their attentions as well and just stared at Pan, starting to blush harder. Pan smiled back at her friend.

**“Go for it,”** Pan said. Bra swallowed and turned to the table, all of them looking at her. She chuckled nervously and turned to face Kareshi.

**“Hi, Kareshi,”** She said. He smiled, awkwardly and stood up.

**“Uh… hi, Bra,”** He responded. Bra maintained a calm expression, kind of, but in her head, she was screaming. Weirdly enough, Pan was certain she could hear Bra’s screams and tried to stop herself from giggling to herself.

**“I just wanted to invite you to my Birthday party tonight at the Capsule Corp. compound in West City, around 6pm. There are details on the invite about a capsule car that will be picking up guests from outside the school this evening,”** Bra blurted out very quickly, handing him the invite and turning around and trying to walk away.

**“Hey, hold on,”** Kareshi said. Bra froze on the spot and continued her internal screaming. **“I’d love to come.”**

Bra relaxed a little bit, but the screaming didn’t stop. She turned around.

**“Really?”** She said, both shocked and excited. She immediately calmed herself down though. **“I mean, great, see you there.”**

Kareshi smiled at the blue-haired girl as she turned around, grabbed Pan’s arm and rushed off out of the cafeteria, back to where Kiera was waiting.

**“See, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”** Pan asked.

**“I hate you, Pan. I love you, but I hate you,”** Bra said, still bright red. Pan giggled as the girls went off for the rest of their lunch.

Bra retained a very excitable attitude throughout the rest of the school day. She was eagerly awaiting the bell at the end of the day to signal their freedom so she could rush home to celebrate her birthday with the party, with her best friends, her family, and Kareshi. He was actually going to her birthday party. Bra had a crush on him for a while at that point and couldn’t wait to finally get the chance to hang out with him. Bra wasn’t typically this unfocussed, but she had been daydreaming throughout the final periods.

The bell eventually went, and Bra was practically running out of the classroom, down the halls to her locker, grabbing her stuff and rushing out of the school. She did leave Pan behind a little, but the black-haired Saiyan wasn’t too far behind, and she at least had Kiera to walk out of school with.

**“Come on, you two! I wanna get home,”** Bra yelled back at her friends from the schoolyard, where she had already de-capsulised her plane.

**“Are you coming with us now?”** Pan asked Kiera, the blonde shrugged her shoulders.

**“I guess I can, I’ll just text my Mom to bring over my clothes for later,”** Kiera said, with Bra rushing over and grabbing her hands.

**“Oh my God, you can stay the night as well, we’ll have a sleepover,”** Bra squealed. Kiera chuckled nervously as Bra practically jumped up and down in front of her, while holding her hands.

**“Yeah, that sounds great,”** Kiera agreed. Pan, meanwhile, had already boarded the plane and was waiting for the other two. Bra noticed and quickly rushed onboard, yanking Kiera along with her.

The trio were on the plane, with Bra piloting, and they very quickly took off and headed towards West City.

*

Bulma was still rushing around, trying to make sure that everything was perfect for her little girl’s thirteenth birthday. She was like a health inspector, walking around with a capsule pad in her hands and taking note of everything that was perfect, and anything she deemed out of place.

She stepped into the garden dome and looked up as she saw Vegeta currently placing some banners around the dome walls. He could fly so he had become extremely useful for this specific job. Bulma smiled up as she watched her husband work.

**“Great job, honey!”** Bulma yelled out, Vegeta didn’t turn around, clearly not wanting to be embarrassed. Bulma just giggled to herself and continued checking things.

Next, she returned to the kitchen and saw that the spread was fantastic. Chi-Chi and the staff had done a brilliant job of cooking up lots of food. The former martial artist stood by admiring her work until Bulma stepped in.

**“Isn’t it marvellous?”** Chi-Chi asked, hands on hips, head held high. Bulma nodded.

**“It looks amazing, Chi-Chi, thank you so much for all your help,”** The blue-haired scientist said, Placing a hand on Chi-Chi’s back. **“Now we just need to wait for Bra, she’s going to be so happy with all this.”**

Bulma then took a look at her watch and noticed it had passed 3pm.

**“Bra should be home soon!”** Bulma exclaimed as she rushed back through the party hall and the garden dome, telling everyone to make sure they’re finished up with all their jobs.

Just as that was happening, Bra’s plane was flying over West City and towards the compound. As they approached the compound a huge banner came into view reading ‘HAPPY 13TH BIRTHDAY BRA!!’ and Bra was already wide-eyed with excitement and happiness. She just knew her mother had gone all out. The plane touched down just outside the entrance to the residential dome and a group of about ten robots rushed out and formed a sort of guard of honour for when Bra stepped out. There was even a red carpet laid out for the birthday girl. Bra stepped out and as soon as she did the robots, in unison, said ‘Happy Birthday, Miss Bra.’

Bra walked along and thanked the robots, even though they had just been programmed with the message, Bra still revelled in the attention. Pan and Kiera were following close behind. The robots stayed in position the entire time, never moving and inch. When Bra got to the door Bulma rushed out and wrapped her daughter in a hug.

**“Happy Birthday, my little girl!”** Bulma exclaimed, gripping onto the practically mini version of herself. Bra squeezed back. Both were just as excited as each other, it seemed. Bra was probably still way more excited. Bulma finally released Bra as the teenager told her that the trio were going to hang out in the garden dome until it was time to get ready for the party.

Trunks and Goten were already sitting in the dome, chatting to one another when the girls walked in. Bra immediately noticed all the balloons and the banners, and her eyes lit up again. There was even a table that already had snacks and drinks laid out for them. Trunks noticed his sister and waved over.

**“Happy Birthday, sis,”** He said quickly, before turning back to talk to Goten. The Son man also said happy birthday, but apparently their conversation was too engrossing. The girls walked over to the table and grabbed something to eat and then went to sit down in the grass to chill out for a bit.

Bra didn’t sit still for long and went to bother her brother.

**“Hey, where’s my present?”** Bra asked, as she pushed her brother in a playful fashion, even though he did lose his balance and fell off of the chair he was on. Goten started laughing at his friend but Trunks threw a small Ki blast that then caused Goten to fall off of his chair too.

**“I didn’t think there would be anything I could get you that you don’t already have,”** Trunks joked. Bra pouted and then looked to Goten. The Son man laughed nervously.

**“I asked Valese to help pick something out for you, she’ll bring it by later for the party,”** Goten said, covering his back. Trunks turned to him

**“You didn’t tell me you were actually getting her something?”** Trunks questioned. Goten just shrugged.

**“You didn’t think to ask Marron?”** Bra asked, placing her hands on her hips and glaring at her brother. Trunks stepped back.

**“Hey, like I said, I wasn’t sure there was anything you needed or wanted,”** Trunks said, defensively.

**“It’s the thought that counts, Trunks!”** Bra said, seriously. She turned away from him and walked back to her friends. She wasn’t really upset by it, but it was always fun to tease Trunks. He sat back down and felt a bit disappointed in himself. He glared back at Goten, but the Son man just shrugged again.

*

The time for the party grew ever closer, with some of the family friends even starting to arrive. Erasa came over with Kiera’s outfit for the party, and some stuff for the sleepover. Videl was there by that point, again with stuff for Pan for the sleepover. There were some gifts for Bra also. Valese eventually arrived with the gift for Bra. It was just an item of clothing she had spotted while out that she thought would be nice for Bra and had persuaded Goten to get it for her as a birthday gift. Marron also came over, with her parents, both Android #18 and Krillin knew about Trunks and Marron dating at this point too.

That was it for family friends really, Bra didn’t want to overload the place with everyone they knew, especially when there would be friends from school. Bra didn’t want to scare anyone with the craziness of their family friends. Bra had wanted the party to feel formal, so she was wearing a long Red dress that made her feel like a princess. She even had a birthday tiara on. Pan wasn’t fond of dresses that much, so she went with something that was still nice for a party, but a little more casual. She wore a nice orange blouse, with a pair of light blue jeans.

Bra did try her best to convince Pan to wear something different, but the girl was very stubborn and stuck by her choice. Kiera was also wearing a dress though, a blue one. Although, her dress was definitely not as elegant and attention grabbing as Bra’s, big Capsule Corp. money had been spent on that dress.

As time went by, finally, the guests for the party were showing up. Other friends of Bra’s and Pan’s had shown up from school, basically everyone that received an invite was there. Nobody wanted to miss an opportunity to party at the rich girls house. Along with the group of people from school that showed up was the one-person Bra had been waiting for. Kareshi walked up to her, his hair styled neatly, wearing a nice shirt, looking very tidy and formal. Bra couldn’t help but abandon her closest friends for a little bit so she could hang out with Kareshi.

By now nobody was really sitting in the garden dome and everything had moved to the hall that had been all decked out ready for the party. Things were looking and feeling great. There was music, soft drinks, lots of food, and everyone was having a great time. Although, Pan was feeling a little bit abandoned by Bra. At least she still got to hang around with Kiera and wasn’t left completely alone.

**“Bra’s really into him then?”** Kiera said, pointing out Bra with Kareshi, laughing at whatever he was saying.

**“Yep, she’s had a crush on him for a while now, at least she’s finally trying to do something about it,”** Pan said. While she was annoyed at being abandoned by Bra, she was still happy that her friend was happy.

**“What about you, is there anyone you like?”** Kiera asked.

**“No, not right now,”** Pan answered immediately. There wasn’t even a sign that Pan was lying or trying to hide something. **“I did hang out with a guy once, he came to over to our house, couldn’t really handle my crazy family you know.”**

**“That sucks, he wouldn’t have to date your family”** Kiera joked. Pan chuckled.

**“I’ve had boys approach me and ask me out, but they don’t really click with me on any other level, they just like how I look, I guess,”** Pan said, trailing off a little. **“I’ve always been interested in martial arts and guys don’t typically like a girl that’s stronger than them.”**

**“I don’t necessarily think that’s true, you’ll find someone,”** Kiera reassured her. Pan smiled.

**“We’ve all got plenty of time anyway, it’s not something I care about right now,”** Pan explained.

Things went on with the party. People had a good time, had a laugh, and then things started to calm down. People started to leave having to get back to Satan City, mostly. Bra managed to get Kareshi to stay later than everyone else so they could keep hanging out and talking. By that point in the night it was only really the family friends left. The only kids still there were Pan, Bra, Kareshi, and Kiera. Everyone was pretty much sitting together though.

With the adults the conversation seemed to move over to fighting when Vegeta made a point of telling Trunks and Goten they should keep training properly, like him.

**“What’s the point, dad?”** Trunks questioned.

**“Yeah, like no one’s about to burst through that door and want to fight me,”** Goten said confidently. Vegeta glared at him.

**“You always need to be vigilant, be prepared for anything,”** Vegeta lectured them.

**“I agree with Goten,”** Krillin said, **“There hasn’t been anything in a while, we’ve been safe, peaceful. No one’s trying to kill us right now.”**

**“Yet,”** Vegeta said, threateningly. Bulma slapped Vegeta on the back of the head playfully.

**“Oh, stop trying to scare everyone, you silly man,”** Bulma teased. Vegeta grunted and turned away. Kareshi couldn’t make sense of what they were talking about, but Bra was keeping him focussed on her, so he barely made out most of the adult conversation.

**“I think Vegeta’s got a bit of a point,”** Gohan interjected, **“I’ve been keeping up with a little bit of light training here and there. There’s nothing wrong with being a little active.”**

**“See, he gets it,”** Vegeta said.

**“I knew you were training without telling me,”** Videl said, turning to Gohan. **“I could sense the little bit of difference in your energy.”**

**“Guilty,”** Gohan said, holding up a hand and chuckling. Someone else had been paying close attention to this conversation and was very surprised about what Gohan said.

**“You’ve still been training?”** Pan asked. Gohan turned to his daughter and quickly glanced at Videl who had turned to look at him.

**“Uh, yeah, mainly on breaks from work,”** Gohan answered.

**“But every time I asked you to train me you said no,”** Pan said, she stood up and stared right at her father. Gohan was a little speechless, he didn’t have an answer. He looked to Videl again and she wasn’t going to help him here.

**“I didn’t think you needed to,”** Gohan said, thinking it would help.

**“But I’ve always wanted to train, ever since I was little, I only stopped because you wouldn’t do it,”** Pan said, getting a little angry. That anger was radiating a little and everyone could feel it, even if it was only faint, it definitely had an effect on her power. Everyone was distracted when Vegeta slammed his hand on the table and stood up.

**“See, three out of the six Saiyans in this room want to train, so I say we have a sparring session,”** Vegeta said, flashing to Super Saiyan. Kareshi’s eyes went wide and he turned to looked at Bra and then at everyone else. None of them were shocked. Except maybe Kiera, as she hadn’t seen anything like this before.

**“Vegeta, now is not the time!”** Bulma said, standing up to him. Vegeta powered down but remained a Super Saiyan. Goten and Trunks seemed to look at each other and breathe a sigh of relief.

**“The boys need to get back into fighting shape,”** Vegeta tried arguing.

**“Boys? They’re not boys anymore, Vegeta. They’re men and they obviously don’t want to, so don’t bother them,”** Bulma tried to convince her husband to abandon the topic. Vegeta turned, instead, to Gohan.

**“You,”** Vegeta pointed at him, **“Spar, now.”**

Pan stepped up.

**“I can join in!”** Pan exclaimed.

**“No,”** Gohan said, sternly.

**“Why not?”** Pan asked.

**“Can we please not do this on my birthday!”** Bra called out, getting all of their attentions. Bulma glared at the group, clearly trying to avoid getting Bra upset or annoyed. Everything fell silent for a minute and then everyone calmed down and went back to talking about something else. The situation was given a new level of awkwardness when Krillin asked Trunks and Marron when they were getting married. Although, Pan couldn’t get her mind off of the thought that her dad was still training.

While in the group of kids, Kareshi took a look at his phone and noticed the time.

**“I think it’s getting kind of late, I should probably leave,”** he said, standing up. Bra stood up with him.

**“I’ll see you out, we’ll get one of the auto-mated capsule cars to take you home,”** Bra said, taking a hold of Kareshi’s hand and walking to the exit. The two shared a quick hug. **“I’m glad you came.”**

**“Yeah, me too,”** Kareshi said, chuckling nervously. He then seemed to lean in a second, perhaps trying to go for a kiss, but Vegeta’s sharp eye noticed and he flashed over, pushing the boy back a step.

**“That’s close enough, boy,”** Vegeta growled. Kareshi seemed to freeze in position.

**“Vegeta! Leave them alone,”** Bulma yelled out.

**“Dad, what’s wrong with you?”** Bra questioned.

**“You’re too young. And he’s too weak and unworthy of being with a princess!”** Vegeta said, glaring at the boy. Krillin, Trunks, and Goten seemed to laugh a little bit at hearing that last bit. Vegeta obviously heard that and had to say something else. **“A Saiyan Princess, I meant.”**

**“That’s cute, honey, but leave Bra and her friend alone. So what if she’s a Saiyan princess, your Saiyan hierarchy means nothing here,”** Bulma told him, pulling him away.

**“That doesn’t change the fact she’s still my princess,”** Vegeta said, although he tried to say it quietly, but most everyone heard what he said.

**“What was that, dad?”** Trunks called out.

**“Aw, listen to my cute husband,”** Bulma said, hugging him.

**“Get off of me, woman!”** Vegeta called out.

**“That was a nice thing to say, dad, I didn’t know you could be so sweet,”** Bra said. Vegeta groaned in embarrassment and everyone was laughing at him, even Kareshi. Vegeta noticed the boy was laughing at him and he turned to face him. He gave him a strong death glare and Kareshi was genuinely scared at that point.

**“Uh, it was a nice party, Bra. I gotta go,”** Kareshi said before rushing off into one of the capsule cars. It quickly took off and flew away. Bra was a little upset about that, she didn’t get to have her proper goodbye.

**“Thank a lot, dad!”** Bra yelled at him. Vegeta was taken aback and seemed a little ashamed at himself.

**“I… I’m sorry,”** Vegeta muttered, and rushed off away to his gravity room. Bra sighed and Bulma gave her a quick hug.

**“Thanks for the party, mom. It was great,”** the teenager said, hugging her mother back.

**“You’re welcome, sweetheart. Now why don’t you and the girls go relax a little bit before bed now,”** Bulma said, as the trio went off together to Bra’s room.

The girls all changed out of their outfits and into their pyjamas or whatever they were wearing to bed.

**“It really was a nice party,”** Kiera assured Bra.

**“Yeah it was,”** Pan agreed, **“Are you ok though?”**

**“Yeah, I’m fine, that’s just my dad isn’t it,”** Bra said, smiling wide again, **“Plus Kareshi sent me a text and he seems to be ok.”**

**“That’s great, he must be a keeper”** Kiera said, enthusiastic for her friend. Pan was still dwelling on the thought of her father training and not telling her. He knew how much Pan had wanted to keep training when Goku left, but he had always denied her. It annoyed the young Saiyan, but she just tried to push it to the back of her mind.

**“Now we need to start planning for Pan’s birthday party!”** Bra said, getting excited again. Pan was brought back down to Earth.

**“Can we just get through December first, think about that in the new year?”** Pan pleaded.


	12. Christmas Around the Globe

**_Chapter 12: Christmas Around the Globe_ **

* * *

_Monday 25 th December Age 791_

Snow had begun to fall in the lower mountainous area just south of Parsley City, close to where Noca was travelling through. Even though the young Saiyan may have lived in a mountainous area himself, this was a lot colder than where he came from. While he had experienced snow a few times in his life, this was different. He wasn’t used to how much snow was falling. The air grew much colder than Noca was prepared for. He was freezing. He knew he should have packed much better, but then again, he was never truly prepared for this journey.

He was hoping to have made it to Parsley City and find somewhere to stay, at least for a normal night’s rest. The last village he stopped through was nice, and the people were helpful, but nobody warned him the weather might change like this. All they said was that Parsley City was located nearby. Noca glanced down at the Capsule watch he was given as a freebie in the last village (they were always so generous) and saw the temperature was getting lower. He needed to take a rest somewhere, but there was nowhere appropriate. He needed something warm.

The young man was lucky enough to spot a cave and pushed through the cold and exhaustion to get there. It appeared to go quite deep in, meaning that Noca would be safe from the snow outside. As he moved through, he could feel the cold air getting weaker and further. Sure, it wasn’t exactly warm, but the temperature was allowing Noca to relax himself a bit better. He decided he didn’t want to go too deep in and stopped to set up some sort of camp.

He dropped to the ground and sighed in relief. He needed to sleep, but first he needed to set up some sort of heat source. Luckily, that Capsule Corp. employee was kind enough to give out a Capsule heater too. (too generous). It had its own power source so Noca just set it up and turned it on and sat close. The heat coming out wasn’t great, but it was still something. Noca started to get comfortable.

Now that the snow wasn’t pounding against his face as he walked the mountain path Noca could clearly check his watch. He was surprised to see that he had been travelling through the night. It was six in the morning. Noca seemed surprised by that, he wasn’t even tired and had been walking for about eight hours straight. Noca also noticed the date, but it didn’t seem to resonate in his brain. None of the days mattered at this point. He just took his watch off and set it next to the radiator, ensuring that it was completed dried out.

He sat in silence for a few minutes, unsure of what to do with himself.

**“I guess I could train…”**

*

The cold weather wasn’t just confined to the isolation of the mountains, there was a cool breeze that blew through the large West City on this dark Christmas Morning. Most people were still asleep in their beds. Hardly any lights were on throughout the city, there were no cars driving through. While not everybody celebrated Christmas in this region, it was still classed as a Holiday and most everything was closed for the day.

For the holiday, a few familiar faces had decided to stay in one place. Capsule Corp. was full this year. With Gohan, Videl, Goten, Chi-Chi, and Pan all decided to spend this time with Bulma, Vegeta, Trunks, and Bra. Even Marron and Valese would be joining later in the day after spending most of it with their respective families.

Pan and Bra were staying in the same room, and as usual, Bra was the first to get up. The very excitable girl always liked to be ready for the day, no matter what was going. Pan, on the other hand, would have preferred more sleep. That just wasn’t possible when Bra was around.

Once Bra was finally successful it getting Pan awake, the grouchy black-haired girl sat with her eyes half open, glaring at Bra.

**“Every time I stay here… why?”** Pan said, breaking into a yawn right at the end. She stretched her arms and sat at the end of the bed. While Pan hated being woken up, she did also hate wasting the day, so it was a good thing that Bra woke her up, even if Pan would be in a bad mood for a brief moment.

**“Merry Christmas, Pan!”** Bra said, a wide smile on her face. Pan glanced up at her friend and smirked weakly, as she continued to stretch. Bra grabbed on to Pan’s outstretched hand and pulled her to her feet. Pan’s eyes went wide as this happened. She was in no way prepared for that and lost balance almost pulling both her and Bra to the floor. She steadied out but accidently gripped Bra’s hand too hard. **“OW!”**

**“Oh, sorry…”** Pan said, letting go of Bra’s hand and standing up straight. Pan looked at Bra shaking her hand because of the little pain and she chuckled to herself a little. **“Maybe don’t wake me up early in future, or drag me when I’m not expecting it.”**

Bra started to rub her hand, staring at Pan with a pout. Pan smiled at her best friend, showing she wasn’t really mad, but making it clear that Bra should indeed be more careful.

**“Fine. Sorry,”** Bra said, turning away. **“Now come on, let’s go downstairs.”**

**“Can I go to the bathroom first?”** Pan asked, although it wasn’t a question she needed answering. Bra let Pan go to bathroom and waited patiently for her to finish up so they could head downstairs together.

The girls went down the stairs quietly, so not to wake anyone else up just yet. It was half past six in the morning, after all. Too early for some people. A point that Pan had already made abundantly clear. Before they got to the living room Bra turned to Pan.

**“What do you think Santa’s left for us?”** Bra asked, in a very innocent way. Pan knew Bra was kidding, so she did her best to go along with it.

**“I don’t know, but I’m sure some of it will at least be Capsule Corp. branded, which makes me question where he got it from?”** Pan said, making a joke out of the situation. **“Did he buy it from your mom just to gift it to you?”**

**“Oh yeah Pan, very funny, haha,”** Bra said sarcastically. Pan shook her head.

**“I’m sure we got exactly what we wanted, and maybe some other surprises. Santa knows us both very well,”** Pan said, smiling at her friend. Bra beamed back as they finally got to the living room and snuck in. Well, Bra was sneaking around for some reason, maybe trying to make a game out of it. Pan decided to play along in her own way and lifted off of the ground and hovered just behind Bra.

Bra was surprised that she couldn’t hear Pan behind her and turned around to see what was going on, only for Pan to crash into her and both girls fell to the ground.

**“Ow… Bra, why did you stop?”** Pan asked, standing back up.

**“I didn’t think you were behind me, why were you so quiet?”** Bra questioned, hands on hips.

**“I was flying in, just hovering above the ground to play along with whatever sneaky game you were playing,”** Pan said, chuckling lightly, finding the amusement in their clash. Bra scoffed and turned around to look over at the Christmas tree that had been set up. The lights were already on and there were in fact gifts under the tree.

**“Well, looks like Santa has been!”** Bra exclaimed, although in a hushed voice. She turned to Pan and smiled. Pan shook her head.

**“No, I think it was that guy,”** Pan said, pointing across the room to an armchair where a certain Saiyan Prince lay, apparently napping and unaware of the girls’ presence. Both girls looked to each other and laughed quietly while approaching the tree. All they had to do was wait for everyone else to wake up and come down to start their Christmas day. Bra started pulling the presents out from under the tree and began to organise them based on who they were for. Pan meanwhile, sat beside Bra and was watching Vegeta, expecting him to wake up at any moment. He twitched a couple of times and Pan was almost certain he was just pretending to be asleep.

While Bra was distracted, Pan took an ornament off of the tree and with all her force she threw it towards Vegeta to test her theory. At the last moment, Bra noticed.

**“What are you doing?!”** Bra asked, just as Pan threw the ornament. It sailed towards Vegeta, and just as Pan predicted, he caught it and opened his eyes.

**“Good Morning, girls,”** Vegeta said, initially glaring at the two, but it formed into a small smirk.

**“Morning, daddy! Merry Christmas,”** Bra greeted, running over and giving her father a hug. Vegeta put one arm around her and made a huff sound. He wasn’t about to say it back. Pan smiled at him in a teasing way. It was only in times like this he would typically show a softer side.

*

Back in the mountains, Noca remained seated by his heater, just staring at the light that was emanating from it. The small light did enough to illuminate the space around Noca, and the heat coming from it was comforting. The young Saiyan felt protected enough. He decided his situation, for the moment, was manageable.

He sat down, crossed his legs, and began to clear his mind. The peace of his isolation and emptiness of his surroundings was perfect for another attempt at some meditation. He wanted to try and learn to better control his senses with the hopes of being able to find himself a route towards West City. He had sort of been blindly travelling for some time and just heading in a direction rather than towards anything. It would help to at least have some real idea of where he was going. His senses started to come through whenever his instinct decided to kick in, but that typically happened in times of stress. He was certain Goku would be able to help him with that.

Noca closed his eyes and started to search through his mind. He was looking for his current position. Trying to visualise his surroundings while his eyes remained closed. It didn’t take him long to create a copy of the cave’s layout inside his head. He saw it as clear as day. This wasn’t just him imagining his location, he was truly visualising it.

He felt the instincts within him reacting and he decided to stand up, but it was only within the confines of his mind that he did that. In reality, he was still sitting in the same spot in that cave facing his heater. That fact didn’t play into Noca’s thoughts as he continued to move. It was almost as if nothing held him back and he started to walk towards the cave’s exit. He stepped out onto the mountain path and even though the snow continued to fall, and the wind was strong, Noca managed to look past that and carry on walking along the path.

The young Saiyan came to a stop when there was a fork in the path. There were two different choices. One path that started to lead further up the mountain, higher up. The secondary route was the complete opposite and appeared to lead further down. It didn’t take a genius to figure out that the higher up the mountain went the further Noca would get from West City. The decision would be easy and Noca would follow the path that lead down the mountain.

But that didn’t work in his vision. Noca’s instinct seemed to tell him something different and he turned to face the upward path. He tried to pull himself away, but he couldn’t stop. The young Saiyan started to walk towards the upward path and followed the route. As he got higher up the strength of the wind grew and a sudden powerful gust shot towards Noca, impairing his vision and making it harder to move.

He was unable to move any further forward but, in the distance, he could see something. A building built into the side of the mountain. Like a sort of mansion. It intrigued Noca and he wanted to move further forward but found the strength of the wind worked as some sort of barrier, stopping him completely. It grew stronger completely impairing Noca’s vision and with some sort of jolt Noca was shocked out of his meditative state.

His eyes opened and he could see clearly again, only this time he was back in the cave. He looked around and noticed nothing had changed. He was in the exact same spot, but now he had the knowledge of where he could go. The path that headed south down the mountain would be ideal, but that northern path, and that building, it intrigued him. His curiosity was definitely getting the best of him and Noca stood up, walking to the cave opening. He looked outside and tried to see how far up the mountain was visible from his position. The answer was not much, but the snow was starting to slow down, just a little, although the wind remained strong.

Noca continued to stare into the distance, looking up and down the mountain path and knew he had to do something. Maybe it was overconfidence or maybe it was the fear of falling behind and failing, but he needed to keep going. He needed to start training soon, he couldn’t spend all this time out in the wilderness on his own.

The young Saiyan packed his things and started to head out of the cave. He started walking along the path and instantly he knew where he needed to go and headed towards the fork in the path. He looked in both directions and told himself to walk down the path as opposed to up, but he ended up listening to the pull of his instinct and headed up. Towards the strange building. Away from his destination. As he moved further along the path, he noticed that it was a lot rockier, and more unstable than his vision had told him. The temperature continued to drop.

**“This is gonna be tough.”**

*

Finally, everyone staying at Capsule Corp. for the holiday was finally awake and had made their way downstairs to begin the day. Everyone was sitting in the kitchen as they prepared a big breakfast. Chi-Chi had taken control and was ordering everyone around, making them pass her the things she needed. That’s not to say people didn’t want to help. The Son family were the ones preparing the food, it seemed. Even Pan was getting in there and helping her grandmother.

Bulma was doing her best to help, but she was never the best at this kind of stuff. She had pretty much always had the staff there to cook for her and the family, although Vegeta did like to get hands on and prepare his own food most of the time. He had a specific diet after all. Vegeta never liked to admit it but he did appreciate Chi-Chi’s cooking. She was very knowledgeable with cooking for Saiyans. Vegeta liked to watch to see if he could pick up on what made Chi-Chi’s cooking standout.

Trunks and Bra were there in the kitchen too, but they were sitting out of the way and letting the experts do what they needed. Although, Trunks wasn’t enjoying flicking through the channels on the TV. It managed to draw Vegeta’s attention as the annoying sounds of Christmas television emanated through to his ears.

**“Will you shut off that crap?!”** Vegeta yelled over at his son. **“Everything is terrible at this time of year. I hate this meaningless holiday!”**

**“Aw cheer up Vegeta,”** Goten said, walking over with a mug of something. **“Here. Have some coffee.”**

**“No, don’t give him coffee,”** Trunks said, acting like Goten was doing something very wrong. Goten stopped and turned to his friend with an inquisitive look. **“I think he’ll prefer a glass of warm milk.”**

Goten started to chuckle, but Vegeta shot him a murderous glance and reached out for the mug. Goten handed it over, nervously, and then backed away slowly, returning to doing all he could to help with the food.

**“Everybody, go sit at the table, me and Gohan will bring out the food soon, it’s nearly ready!”** Chi-Chi exclaimed, in a delighted fashion. She was always incredibly festive around this time of year. She loved having the families together and working together in the kitchen.

Everyone headed to the dining area and sat down waiting for Gohan and Chi-Chi to start bringing everything out. Vegeta sat at the head of the table with Bulma and Bra either side of him. Soon enough everyone joined the table and the food was brought out. Everyone was happy as they started to dig into their food, with the Saiyans shredding through it, and the holiday had well and truly begun.

Breakfast finished and it was Bra that was first to call for presents to be opened. She grabbed her father’s arm and started to drag him to the living room. Vegeta could easily resist but chose not to, even though he was feeling rather embarrassed. The family sat down in the living room and presents were opened. There was a lot of food being consumed by the Saiyans throughout the day, chocolate and sweets, mostly. Everyone exchanged their gifts, with Pan and Bra receiving brand new Capsule Corp. devices to make their lives easier, and everything was customisable. Capsule-phones, capsule-laptops, watches. Bra was showered with new clothes and other little things from her mother, and to a lesser extent, her father.

Lots of money meant lots of gifts, but it also meant that everyone pretty much had everything they wanted anyway. The rest of the morning was much more relaxed, Pan and Bra started setting up their new devices together, and everyone continued to watch bad TV together. Around midday Valese and Marron both arrived to see their boyfriends.

It was shaping up to be a calm and relaxed day.

*

Meanwhile, back in the mountains, Noca had started to make it quite far along the route. Apparently, his vision had been a little mixed up and the building he saw in his vision was likely further ahead. But things started to play out similarly to the vision with the strength of the winds picking up and making it difficult for Noca to see where he was going. He had to rely on wherever he was stepping, without actually seeing it. The further along the path he got Noca realised that the ground was becoming narrower, he could feel his feet slipping a little. It took the boy longer than it should have to realise he was very close to the edge of the mountain path, and it wouldn’t be a comfortable landing if he were to fall.

Noca stopped, making sure he balanced himself and kept safe, but as he did that his feet slipped a little more and he noticed the ground had become icier. He had to throw his hands out to hold onto the side, but even that was icy, and hard to get a hold of. Noca wasn’t sure that his instincts were helping him in this situation. He seemed to be heading further into danger, but nothing was stopping him from continuing. He had to keep moving.

Every now and then Noca’s feet would slide just a little bit, and he could even feel the integrity of the ground weakening beneath his feet. Noca was beginning to fear for his life. He was still struggling to see through the wind and snow, but that was almost impossible at this point. He had to keep going now, there was no turning back. The path grew narrower and Noca was having to side-step along the path, with his back against the mountain wall. He took one more step forward and the ground cracked, loudly, and some of the path broke off and crumbled down.

The boy fell with it and started to slip down the wall, he kept his hands against the rocks and tried to grip onto something and hold himself up. As he continued to fall, he finally reached a ledge he could grab onto. It was extremely lucky that he managed that. He held on tightly and tried to pull himself back up. If only the wind and snow would let up and let him get along safely. Noca tried to remember that his instinct brought him to this point, and they should be able to get him through it safely. Noca calmed himself and closed his eyes. He did his best to keep his mind clear, but the weather did calm down and the ledge started to break away. Noca’s eyes snapped open and he fell with the ledge, unable to grab onto any other rocks.

After nearly three hours of climbing up the mountain Noca would lose a lot of progress, but if he wasn’t careful, he may lose his life.

*

Back over at the Capsule Corp. compound, the family and friends were gathered around in the living room, talking, playing games, watching TV. Normality. All of them were pretty much ignoring the TV when the news came on and nobody really paid attention to what was being said. But for some reason, somebody was drawn to it.

Pan felt something scratching in the back of her mind, something recognisable and she turned to look out of the window, noticing the snowfall. It seemed heavy, but nothing too bad. Then she turned to the TV where a weatherman appeared to be speaking.

**“It seems that the blizzard occurring right now near Parsley City will most likely dissipate before it reaches us here in West City, so we’ll be safe from the worst of it, but the snow we’re experiencing will probably last us a couple of days,”** The weather said, while showing a map of the region where Parsley city was located. Pan’s sense seemed to tell her that something was happening near Parsley city and it had something to do with the weather. The camera was now on the newsreader.

**“We’ve been told that there have been a lot of rockslides caused by the cold weather, even some small avalanches have occurred in the area too, and there has been some damage to small rural villages,”** The newsreader confirmed. **“King Furry says he is hoping to be able to dispatch aid to the area once the blizzard has passed.”**

Pan turned away from the TV and glanced back out of the window again. Bra noticed this and watched her friend, unsure of what was happening in her mind to distract her from setting her laptop up, as she had been doing for the past hour. The black-haired girl continued to feel like something bad was happening, but after feeling the turmoil it appeared to completely leave her and suddenly Pan felt empty. She shifted uncomfortably just a little bit and Bra certainly noticed. Pan almost felt like she lost something, and it affected her. She twitched and looked over to Bra, noticing her blue-haired best friend was watching her. Pan’s eyes darted to everyone else, luckily none of them noticed anything, and then she looked at Bra again. She motioned her head to the door and the girls got up and grabbed their things together.

**“We’re gonna head upstairs so I can transfer some files to my new laptop,”** Bra said, as she and Pan headed out of the room and up the stairs, quickly. Nobody seemed to have any questions about it and just got on with what they were doing. Pan paced back and forth when she got into Bra’s room, thinking on what may have happened to her energy friend.

**“Pan, what is it?”** Bra asked, clearly seeing the turmoil her friend had going on in her head. Pan stopped and looked at Bra. She opened her mouth to say something but seemed to tremble a little bit and nothing came out. Bra stepped over to her. **“You’re starting to worry me, what’s wrong?”**

Pan looked away again and cleared her throat.

**“I felt that power again,”** Pan muttered, looking to the window. Bra seemed relieved that it wasn’t anything bad and walked over to her friend, placing her arm around her friend.

**“I get that it’s weird, but you don’t have to tell me every time,”** Bra said, almost in an amused way. Pan looked to Bra and pulled away.

**“You don’t get it… I don’t know what happened, but there’s definitely something to do with that blizzard in the mountains,”** Pan continued, clarifying her feelings. Bra watched on, beginning to understand that there was some distress going on in Pan’s mind. **“There was a point where it spiked a little and then… then it completely vanished.”**

**“But doesn’t it always vanish?”** Bra asked. **“You don’t constantly feel it.”**

**“This is different…”** Pan muttered, staring at the floor. **“It’s gone.”**

**“Gone? You mean…”** Bra started.

**“I think that whoever it belongs to is…”** Pan continued but seemed to stop and gasp. Bra could see there was some form of emotion there. Pan was upset. She stepped over to her friend.

**“Don’t think like that,”** Bra said, trying to assure her friend. **“You can’t know that.”**

**“What if they’re dead?”** Pan questioned as she backed up and dropped onto the bed, looking to the window again.

*

The winds in the mountains continued to blow ferociously, and it didn’t seem like there was a chance of them letting up at any point that same day. The snow was getting heavier. There was no chance of any living thing getting through those mountains safely. Well, close to no chance. Every step Noca had taken in the snow had already been filled in. There was little possibility of Noca being able to find his way back to that cave. Rocks on the mountains had started to break away again.

Lower down the mountain, away from the most dangerous paths, lay a person. A young boy. Noca was in a very dangerous position. He was unconscious as the snow continued to fall and rocks broke away, and Noca would need to wake up soon. He was beginning to disappear beneath a white blanket of snow. The rocks and snow falling together started to form a strong avalanche that was headed straight towards the area where Noca lay.

Within the confines of his own mind was somewhere Noca was sure he didn’t want to be in that moment. He was aware of the danger he was in by staying where he was. He knew his life was being put at extreme risk. But there was nothing he could do about that. As the avalanche rapidly approached the ground Noca’s mind began to open up some more. He had found something inside that he understood and familiarised with. He saw it and reached out, touching it. Suddenly he felt a power flow through his body, a power he had felt before. There wasn’t a lot, but he knew it was enough to make him feel much stronger.

He had found a way to use his potential and instinct to increase his power. If this was a feeling he could maintain and remember, then maybe it could lead to better control and his survival.

Noca’s head was still just about visible through the snow and his eyes slowly opened. They began to adjust, and he could see a massive black cloud in the sky, throughout the falling snow, but it was getting much bigger and looked solid. Noca was becoming more aware to the present and could feel his face stinging. He tried to lift his hand to touch his face, but his arms felt like they had far too much weight on them. Noca blinked a couple of times and finally became away that it was a solid object falling towards him.

He attempted to lift himself off of the ground, but he still couldn’t move. The object was going to hit him. Noca shut his eyes, ready to embrace the impact.

But then something happened. He was well aware of its presence and now he had one hand on how to use it. He felt his power rise and felt the Ki emanating from within. There was a small explosion of power and Noca shot up with a golden aura and flew right through the falling snow and rocks. He managed to get himself to safety and landed some distance away. He was finally out of danger.

He attempted to stand but a pain shot through his left leg and it caused him a lot of discomfort. He looked down and saw there was a lot of blood. There was a brief shock as he looked over his body and saw his hands appeared to be scratched up and bloody as well. He then finally realised he could move his arms properly and went to feel his face and as soon as he touched it there was some stinging pain and more blood. That fall had caused an awful lot of damage. Noca was in a lot of pain, but he had to try and ignore it all.

Noca tried to stand one more time and decided to put more pressure on his right leg as he did so. But he just fell to the ground again. He had fallen down on to his stomach and slowly lifted his head, to see through the snow, but it was far too difficult. This was not shaping up to be a fun Christmas for Noca, at all. Looking past the pain he was in and the impossible situation, Noca realised that he was missing his bag. Something he seemed to constantly misplace.

He didn’t have a clue about where he could fine it, but he had to look. There was no way he would leave it behind. He needed to try and completely forget about the pain in his leg. He managed to get up once more and kept most of the pressure on his right leg and seemed to be ok. There was still an occurring problem though. The snow wasn’t slowing any time soon, but the wind was beginning to let up a little, so Noca’s vision had become clearer. He started to take a few steps forward, but it only seemed to cause more pain. He wasn’t going to stop though. He knew that if he were to prove he could be a strong and effective fighter then he would need to keep going and push through the pain.

Although he stumbled along and fell over a few times, he thought he was fine. That’s what he had to keep telling himself anyway. He wouldn’t let anything stop him and would have to keep fighting on and ensure that he survived it, retrieved his bag, and make his way to West City. He was determined to keep on that same path.

The injured Saiyan limped on through the snow, in pain, and practically blind. Noca had no idea how he would find the bag, he just had to hope he would stumble upon it, but he wasn’t sure how likely that was. He continued on through the snow as it began to slow down and his vision was much clearer, but then there was a crack sound, and something drew Noca’s attention up. He looked up right away and saw a rock falling down and it struck him right in the head, knocking him unconscious, again.

*

Back at the Capsule Corp. compound, the entire group of family and friends were all sitting down to eat their dinner and it was clearly a meal that had once again been planned by Chi-Chi. Everyone was sitting and eating, the Saiyans non-stop eating, aside from Pan and Bra who were stuck in their heads for a bit. Once they had finished their dinner the girls were back out of the room again and returned to Bra’s bedroom.

**“Pan, stop worrying,”** Bra said, seeing that Pan was still in some form of distress.

**“How? How do you expect me to stop worrying? I know this power, it’s been a part of me for the last few months, so when it finally disappears completely what am I supposed to do? Huh? Tell me?”** Pan explained, bursting out in a rant. Bra was taken aback and tried to keep herself composed.

**“I’m sorry… I…”** Bra said, stuttering a little and unable to get her words out. **“Do you know where it is?”**

**“I don’t know, I can usually feel it coming from a direction but this time I only felt the power before it went, I just don’t know what the hell I should do?”** Pan said, questioning it in a semi-panicked state. **“It probably has something to do with the blizzard but… I don’t know.”**

Pan dropped to the floor next to Bra’s bed, with her back against it. She put her head in her hands and tried to shake the thoughts away. Bra sat down beside her and put her arm around her.

**“Come on, Pan. Let’s try to get on with the rest of Christmas, ok?”** Bra asked, hoping her friend would be able to just push it away for a bit and relax. Pan looked up.

**“Fine,”** Pan agreed as they both stood up and went back downstairs together to enjoy the rest of the evening with their families.

*

_Tuesday 26 th December Age 791_

The next morning was a lot calmer than Christmas Day had been. This was great for the people living in the towns and cities affected by the blizzards over the holiday. The weather had all cleared up, almost miraculously, and King Furry had already dispatched his army to deliver relief efforts to the affected areas. Still up in the mountains, Noca lay unconscious. He was just starting to wake up but didn’t seem to be very aware of where he was, at least not right away. He opened his eyes and looked up to sky, soon noticing that the sun was blazing. He looked away and slowly lifted himself up but felt a sharp pain in his left leg again. Noca had to stifle a cry and dropped to the ground.

He tried to roll onto his front and push himself up, but he just couldn’t do it. He could still feel the stinging and aching pains all over his body, just like the night prior. He touched his face again and could feel the cuts and the dried blood. He knew he had been heavily injured, but he didn’t know it would be this badly.

The white t-shirt he had on underneath his jacket had been covered in blood, again it had dried. Noca was in incredible pain. He really wished he didn’t have to continue going, but he couldn’t lie in the snow all day. He put all his strength into trying to lift himself up to his feet and carry on walking. As he moved on, he noticed his bag close by on the ground, but he was almost certain he didn’t find it the night before. He looked around and picked it up. Everything was still there. Noca looked back but didn’t want to dawdle anymore, his mind drifted back to the thoughts of that strange house in his visions and he continued walking.

Meanwhile, high up in the sky, a green man hovered in the sky. He seemed to be watching over Noca. It was Piccolo, and he was honestly impressed by how Noca had almost managed to push through all that trouble the night before.

**“So, you are pretty tough,”** Piccolo mentioned to himself.

**“I told you,”** A voice said from beside Piccolo, seemingly appearing out of nowhere. Piccolo flinched in surprise and moved away a little, turning to see Goku had appeared beside him.

**“Don’t do that, Goku!”** Piccolo exclaimed. The Saiyan chuckled to himself and looked down. **“He’s in really bad shape.”**

**“He’ll be fine, he’s a Saiyan,”** Goku assured his Namekian friend, **“This will all only serve to make him much stronger.”**

**“Hm, I’ll keep watch when I can, but when do you think you’ll finally introduce yourself?”** Piccolo asked, turning to face Goku. The Saiyan chuckled again and raised his fingers to his head, using instant transmission to leave. Piccolo huffed and looked down again.

Noca was back on both feet and limped towards the mountain path. He needed to continue on the same route he had followed the night before. The blizzard had created a huge setback for the young Saiyan, and he would definitely need to hurry along the rest of his journey, which would be incredibly difficult while he could hardly walk. Noca found that the further he went the more he started to ignore the pain, but that didn’t affect the limp.

He was feeling pretty dizzy as well, but that must have been due to the fact that he had suffered too many blows to the head that night, as well as a lack of food and water. Noca needed to find something soon but it didn’t seem incredibly likely at that moment. He would have to just push through and rest whenever he could.

The further along the route he went Noca noticed he was losing a lot of his day. He was moving far too slowly. One check on his watch and he noticed it was already getting to the evening, he definitely needed to take a break and sleep properly at some point. He found a cave to sleep in, but this one was further along the route than he had made it before. He managed to limp inside the cave and set up a small camp. He still only had a little bit of food in his bag and had to ration it as best as he could.

While he sat there, he took off his coat and took a proper look at his wounds. He took a clean shirt out of his bag and removed the one he was wearing. He needed to clean the wounds and moved out of the cave a little and took some of the left-over snow and bottled it, using that to clean himself off. The wounds all stung but it was also a little relieving as he used the cold snow to clean himself.

Once he had done this, he felt like it was best to get some more sleep. He could still barely move his leg so there would be no fight training for a while. He would have to continue his meditative training whenever he could. But that could wait until tomorrow. Noca wanted rest. He lay down close to his Capsule-heater and fell asleep.


	13. Reuniting with the Enemy

**_Chapter 13: Reuniting with the Enemy_ **

* * *

_Tuesday 23 rd January Age 792_

The hectic Christmas in the mountains seemed far behind Noca as the month went on. His journey to West City continued, but progress had been a lot slower than Noca had hoped. The injuries he sustained during that time had remained, although they had started to heal. The leg injury was the toughest because Noca was certain that a bone had been broken, at least that’s what he thought. Noca wasn’t walking well and felt like he was dragging himself along on the journey. Parsley City was his closest city but even then, he felt that he would have to divert from his main path to even drop by.

The young Saiyan continued to ration his food and couldn’t remember the last time he had a decent meal. He had no idea how much longer he had left on the journey and had to be careful with all the food he had. He was honestly surprised that he had lasted a month with that food.

Noca’s path had brought him to an open grassy area where there didn’t appear to be anything for a while. Some plateaus, rocks, small crater like holes, and in the distance some sort of forest area. Noca kept walking on through the area, heading straight for the trees. Maybe, if he were lucky, there would be fruit on those trees. He tried to speed up but there was a bit of pain in his leg and he had to slow down again. He cursed silently and kept on at a weak pace.

As he got closer to the trees, Noca noticed that it wasn’t as forest-like as it appeared from a distance. It seemed like a wall of trees. Noca knew he had to keep going on in that direction because as far as he had been told that was the direction to West City. A part of Noca made him hope he was close but considering he had never really had access to a map of the world he wasn’t at all sure how far West City could be from those mountains.

Noca managed to reach the trees and noticed that while there were a few, he could sort of see through them, and it appeared to be another open area, Noca looked around some more. To the left, the line of trees led down to a river, and to the right, it seemed to wrap around. Noca thought to take the direct path and started to make his way through the trees and to properly see what was on the other side.

He certainly didn’t expect to see what was actually on the other side, but it appeared to be a large garden, with a big fountain, and some neat paths that led up to the largest building Noca had ever seen. It was like a palace. Noca looked around and backed away slowly, hiding away in the trees again, he didn’t want to be spotted. Whoever lived there must be very rich, and judging by the wall of trees, secretive, they may not want any sort of visitors.

Noca thought about trying to move on and go around the place instead, so he could be safe. As he backed off though his stomach started to grumble and Noca realised he really needed to have some real food. He looked around the garden again, trying to be sure no one was there and looked over to the back door of the building, or one of the backdoors. The teenager knew he didn’t have much choice and figured that he should chance it at the mystery house. Maybe the owners are generous. He started to walk up the path to the house.

He approached some steps at the end of the path and started to climb them, heading for the door. The Saiyan inched closer to the door, anxious about being caught. He pushed the door, hoping it would open right away but nothing happened, it was clearly locked. Noca leaned in, looking through the glass, trying to get a sense of who may be inside, hiding. It appeared empty. Almost abandoned. Noca decided to take a chance and knocked on the door lightly a few times. No response. There wasn’t a bell around, so he knocked again, harder. Again nothing.

Noca looked towards the door handle and in through the window again before one last look around the garden. He took a deep breath, clenched his fist, and smashed it into the door handle breaking it. The door inched open and Noca gently pushed it, stepping inside and limping through a large dining room area. The young Saiyan looked up towards the huge ceiling, he had never been inside a place as big as that mansion. It was unreal. Noca knew he shouldn’t make enemies so decided to try again to see if anyone was around.

**“Hello!”** He called out, taking a second to see if there were any responses, **“Is anybody there?”**

There was no answer. It was very strange and Noca’s anxiety continued to grow. He was beginning to worry. His exhaustion, hunger, and pain were getting to him and he really hoped he could find some sort of ally. Noca stumbled on through, heading down the hallway. As he continued on down the hall, he heard a loud crash sound come from the end. Noca froze on the spot. He took a breath, swallowed, and continued.

Without warning, a huge man jumped out from one of the doors and swung for Noca. The young Saiyan hopped back managing to get to safety and landed on his good leg. He sprung forward from that step and went straight for this man. He aimed his fist for the stranger’s gut, but all that connected was the stranger’s fist with Noca’s face. The boy was knocked off of his feet and hit the ground, sliding along the floor up the hall. He winced and let out a small cry of pain.

Noca let out a pained grunt as he moved, attempted to get to his feet and watched as the stranger started walking back towards him.

**“Who the hell are you?”** Noca asked, his questioned answered by a voice through a speaker.

**“You two have met before,”** the voice said. Noca looked around, confused. He recognised that voice but couldn’t place it. He looked back to the stranger and narrowed his eyes, trying to spark his memory. It didn’t take him long to figure it out. It was the big android fighter that Omega had activated that Noca and #17 fought outside Holline’s village.

Noca quickly got to his feet, pushing through the pain. His fists clenched and he moved into a stance, as best as he could, preparing for a fight. He knew Omega had to be around there somewhere and, after all the trouble he put them through back then, Noca wasn’t going to turn down the idea of putting a stop to whatever he was planning. Noca stepped forward, while in his stance, and felt a sharp pain through his leg and he lost balance for a second.

**“You don’t look like you’re in the best shape, young man,”** the voice said over the speakers, Noca was now aware that it belonged to Omega.

**“What gave it away, the ripped clothes or the blood?”** Noca snapped back.

**“You’re not in any position to be sarcastic, Delta here won’t have a hard time putting you down,”** Omega replied, chuckling to himself.

**“You rebuilt him?”** Noca questioned, **“Doesn’t mean he’s stronger.”**

**“You, and your friend, Android #17, foiled my plans for that village, I had to abandon the area! Now, Delta will teach you a lesson!”** Omega yelled through the speakers and as he did Delta charged forward.

The android grabbed Noca by the head and flung him back down the hall, towards the dining room. Noca flew through the air and crashed into the large table, breaking it and falling to the ground. He winced and moved slightly, feeling the pain from the impact and the broken bits of wood jabbing into him. He tried to move out of the mess, but Delta walked over and lifted him up by the front of his shirt and punched him back down into the ground. Noca let out a yelp of pain and writhed on the ground. Delta stood over the boy and grinned, menacingly.

**“I knew you would be no match for him this time,”** Omega’s voice called out through the speakers, **“I’ll take great pleasure in watching him end you.”**

Noca was allowed time to stand up, although his balance was terrible. He wobbled on his feet for a second and then tried to move forward, only to be kicked in the chest. The strength knocked Noca off of his feet again and he flew back into the wall, cracking it. He slumped to the ground and groaned. He felt incredibly faint and could hardly move. He barely had the energy to lift his head. Delta started to walk over, taking his time, loosening up his shoulders. Noca could feel tears coming to his eyes. He had never been in this much physical pain before. He tried clenching his fists and tried to push himself up off of the ground, sliding his back up the wall, knowing he had no control over his balance in that moment.

Delta was practically in front of him again and Noca was ready for an attack, but he had nothing in him to stop it. Omega’s cackling was cutting right at Noca’s soul, he knew there was nothing he could do to silence him.

**“Once I’m done here, I can return to those mountains, those villages, do what I want with the people,”** Omega was teasing Noca, making his final moments as painful as they could be. **“I’ll torture them, hurt them, kill them. Especially those friends of yours.”**

Noca grit his teeth and pushed himself off of the wall, towards Delta, and swung with his right hand, trying to land some sort of hit, but Delta just caught Noca’s arm. The Saiyan cursed out loud, he started to feel like a real failure. Delta tightened his grip and swung Noca across the room again, the teen smashed against the door frame that led to the hallway.

Noca did his best to move back to his feet and started to limp down the hallway, leaning against the wall all the way.

**“I love to see you squirm!”** Omega called out, laughing maniacally. Noca grit his teeth.

**“Shut up!!”** The teen yelled. Omega just laughed more.

**“Oh, have you still got some fight in you?”** Omega questioned. His cackles were still stuck in Noca’s head. **“Delta! Hurt him some more.”**

Delta rushed to the hall and started sprinting down there towards Noca. The teen only had the time to turn around and see Delta smash right into him, with Noca flying further down the hall and smashing through a door, into a laboratory-like room. He quickly scurried behind something, doing his best to ignore the pain.

**“I can still see you, child,”** Omega said, **“But I’ll let Delta have his fun. He likes the chase.”**

Delta entered the room and quickly looked around for the boy. Noca tried to stay as still as he could and calmed his breathing. He attempted to clear his mind and refocus on his power, try to bring it out so he can at least fight back and get away from this place. His attention was drawn too much to the pain he was feeling. There was no way he could keep his mind clear and do what was needed to fight back. He opened his eyes and sat back against the desk he was hiding behind. His emotions were getting the better of him. He felt like he was failing everyone, failing himself, and more importantly, failing his mother. He let out a quiet sob and put his head in his hands.

**“I can’t do this…”** He whispered to himself. His fists clenched around his hair and he rocked on the spot a little. Delta was getting closer.

**“Unfortunate that you won’t get to see what I’ll do to the people you care about,”** Omega spoke up, clearly trying to get a rise out of Noca. He was confident and sure of himself, and Delta. There wasn’t an ounce of doubt in his mind that Noca’s life would come to an end. **“I’ve gotten good and what I do, so many villages bowing to my will, so many unworthy people put down. That mountain region will slowly come to accept me as their leader. Or I’ll continue to make examples of those who are weak.”**

Noca was beginning to make assumptions based on Omega’s rambling. He gently let go of his hair and started to think over what he had said. He ran over some of it in his head. Omega had been doing this for a while, he had attacked more than one village or town in those mountains. He had killed many people. So, did he do it?

Noca grabbed onto that thought and threw all logic out for the moment. Omega had said enough to make Noca sure of something, even if there wasn’t necessarily any evidence to prove that there had even been a trace of Omega near the Kayu village. The young Saiyan couldn’t shake the thoughts. His emotional state was already becoming pretty unstable, and Omega may have helped push it over the line.

Noca stood up. Delta turned to face the boy, now wearing a blank expression on his face as he continued to piece information together in his mind. Delta didn’t notice as he moved slowly towards the teen that some of the liquid inside tubes in that lab had started to rumble, like there was some sort of minor tremor happening. He failed to notice that Noca’s hair and clothes had started to move, just a tiny bit, as if there was a breeze around him. Nor did he notice that Noca’s eyes were briefly changing colour.

**“Did you do it?”** Noca muttered.

**“Speak up boy, I want to hear your final words as you accept your fate,”** Omega called out. Noca continued to look straight from where he was standing.

**“Did you do it?”** He asked, louder, with more ferocity in his tone. Omega chuckled lightly.

**“I have no idea what you’re talking. Elaborate, child,”** Omega ordered. Noca’s aura burst out in that moment causing Delta to flinch lightly. Noca seemed completely oblivious.

**“Did you kill my mother?!”** Noca screamed out. Omega was unable to give his answer in time as a gold aura illuminated the entire room, smashing glass, shaking everything, cracking the walls and causing the speaker system to malfunction. Noca gripped onto his head, clearly feeling overwhelmed, and possibly hurt by everything going on. He screamed out, his voice echoing through the whole room.

Delta grit his teeth, clenched his fists, and charged towards the unsuspecting Saiyan, but in the final moment before that android could make contact with the teen, Noca’s energy exploded from within and Delta was blown to pieces right there and then. The entire room was destroyed and the electronics throughout the whole building started to play up, with things exploding all around.

Noca had a new sense of focus, but all sense of reason and self-control had gone. His hair was standing on end, just threatening to change to a golden colour, while the aura remained flared up. Noca turned to face the doorway and stepped into the hallway and rushed through the building, heading somewhere. He was ignorant of any injuries he had sustained, as well as the damage he caused. He had someone to go and see. Noca eventually bursts into a large office-like room on the top floor and right at the end he spots Omega, frantically working on his computer and stuffing files and things into a box. He pressed the box, quickly capsulizing everything and stood, frozen on the spot, eyes fixed on Noca.

The teen growled and screamed out.

**“YOU KILLED MY MOTHER!!”**

Noca’s hair flashed golden and his energy exploded from within, again. Omega, fortunately for him, was at a safe distance and was only knocked off of his feet, but close enough to his escape route, managing to rush away. He ran on down a hallway as the house shook and fell apart around him. He reached a small one-person jet and jumped in, fired it up and flew away as light shone from within the house before it crumbled down on itself. Omega looked back, wide-eyed and terrified. He knew there was power inside that boy but never that much. He had no idea, but more-so than ever before, he was intrigued, excited, and motivated. He turned forward, looked down at a small data-pad he was holding and even though the screen was cracked, he could see the energy readings were off the charts, but appeared to be frozen at a previous reading. Omega’s brow furrowed as he saw a message at the bottom that read ‘TRACKER DISCONNECTED.’ Omega cursed but couldn’t stop the small smirk that formed when he looked back over the previous readings.

**“This will enhance everything.”**

Meanwhile, as Omega got away, flying off into the distance, silence fell over the demolished mansion. There was not a sign of movement anywhere. Eventually though, a couple of planks of wood moved and Noca’s hand poked up out of the rubble. He had to push past a desk and some other broken things before he got to freedom. He wobbled on the spot and looked around at the disaster that lay around him. He had a perplexed expression on his face and appeared completely unaware of what had happened. All he knew was he was in intense pain, bleeding, and need to get going.

He stepped down away from the rubble, turned back to look at the mess one last time, and turned towards his destination once more.


	14. Here at Last

**_Chapter 14: Here at Last_ **

* * *

_Friday 26 th January Age 792_

This was the date Pan had been looking forward to most since January 26th Age 791, although she wouldn’t admit it to anyone, Pan was thrilled that it was finally her thirteenth birthday. She was finally a teenager and she was planning to have a nice, small party with her closest family and friends, at Capsule Corp. She woke up bright and early, rushing downstairs to see that her parents had prepared a fantastic birthday breakfast for their one and only child.

Pan ate that beautifully delicious breakfast with a beaming smile on her face. She was showered with love by her parents, given the gifts she had wanted, even though it had just been Christmas. She would be getting to see her favourite people later that day. And to top it all off, the school was closed for a teacher training day. Pan legitimately felt as if nothing could ruin her day.

Capsule Corp. was going through the usual frantic preparations that took place for birthday parties, although it wasn’t Bulma in charge of organisation this time, it was Chi-Chi, so everyone was working that little bit harder than if it were the blue-haired scientist barking orders. Both women were proud, powerful perfectionists, and no one would be slacking while they were running the show. The Capsule Corp. chefs had grown to understand the procedure, especially whenever Chi-Chi was there.

Valese and Marron were helping Bulma with getting things laid out and set up to look like a party, Android #18 was there too, getting to the harder to reach places. Vegeta was up to his usual. No, not in the gravity room, he was hanging up the decorations in the garden dome, all the while grumbling about the wasted time away from his precious training. Krillin was there to give a hand as well. Hell, if his wife and daughter were willing to help, why shouldn’t he. At least, that was Bulma’s reasoning. Pan liked things small when it came to her birthday, so the only guests that had not yet arrived were Erasa and Kiera.

The only other absentees were Trunks and Goten. Chi-Chi was furious about that fact.

**“WHERE ARE THOSE BOYS?!”** Chi-Chi’s screeches echoed through the halls of Capsule Corp. **“If they don’t get here quickly, they’ll be in big trouble!”**

**“Relax, will you, Chi-Chi?”** Bulma said, soothingly, trying to make sure the woman didn’t explode. **“They’re probably just held up somewhere.”**

Chi-Chi turned to Bulma with an expression that said, ‘I’m not stupid’ and Bulma recognised that right away.

**“They can fly, Bulma!”** Chi-Chi snapped back, but immediately closed her eyes, took a breath, and calmed herself. **“I’m sorry, Bulma, but those boys are getting on my NERVES!”**

Chi-Chi stomped off back to the kitchen and could be heard yelling some more. Bulma just stood on the spot and chuckled nervously, but knew it was best to get back to setting things up for the imminent arrival of the birthday girl. But first, it was best to go and make sure that Bra was up and ready. The blue-haired scientist went upstairs to her daughter’s room and immediately saw it was in a big mess. There were clothes strewn everywhere.

**“What are you doing?”** Bulma asked, as Bra came rushing out of the bathroom holding a few outfits and wearing half of another.

**“Mom, thank God, you can help me,”** Bra said, rushing over. Bulma was perplexed. Bra sat her down at the end of the bed and then the teen showed off a few outfits. **“Which of these is nice enough so I look amazing, because duh, I want to look amazing, but which is still amazing enough without upstaging Pan?”**

Bulma shook her head and chuckled. Bra really did love her fashion and was just as indecisive about her looks as Bulma was as a youngster.

**“I’m sure it won’t matter,”** Bulma said as she glanced at the things Bra was holding. **“The red one.”**

Bra looked down, eyed up the outfit, and threw the rest on the ground.

**“Thanks, mom. You’re a lifesaver,”** Bra said as she hurriedly dragged her mother to the door and shut her out so she could get changed.

**“Tidy your room up before you come down!”** Bulma said from behind the door before rushing off downstairs.

About an hour passed by, and things were still being prepared, although, it was all basically done. Except for the food of course. Vegeta had found the time to rush off to the gravity room for a quick training session. Kiera had already arrived with Erasa, so Bra was hanging out with her. Chi-Chi had dragged Valese into the kitchen because without Goten or Gohan there she didn’t have the perfect person to help with the cooking. And because Goten wasn’t there yet, neither was Trunks.

It wasn’t long before Pan and her parents arrived, everyone greeted the birthday girl, gifts were exchanged, and the party had essentially begun. Some picking foods had been put out for everyone to snack on, music was playing, everyone was socialising. Although, Valese had been freed from the kitchen once Gohan arrived and Chi-Chi had a new cooking partner. Growing up in the household, Gohan had learned a lot from his mother.

Pan was enjoying herself, but she was little upset that Goten and Trunks were nowhere to be found, and it was tough trying to get a hold of them. Neither were answering their phones, for some reason.

Meanwhile, somewhere in East City, Goten and Trunks were rushing in and out of shops together, in a frantic fashion.

**“Will you hurry up Goten, we’re already late as it is,”** Trunks groaned as Goten dragged him into another shop. Goten seemed worried and in a state of minor panic.

**“When I find the perfect gift!”** Goten snapped back. Trunks was amused by the situation, but he also knew the trouble they would be in when they returned, Despite being grown men. **“Can’t believe I left it so late.”**

Goten had forgotten about Pan’s birthday, although he wouldn’t want to admit that to anyone other than his best friend Trunks. Even Valese had been doing her absolute best to remind him that he still needed to get something. Goten just kept putting it off, and eventually it was too late. Goten knew it would be bad to show up without a gift, not necessarily because Pan would be expecting it, but because he wouldn’t feel right if he didn’t do so. He and Pan had been very close when she was younger and even though they had grown apart, with Goten having other life things to deal with, they still had a certain bond.

**“The girls can’t keep lying to everyone all day, Goten. Frankly I’m uncomfortable getting Marron to lie at all,”** Trunks said, shivering at the thought of Android #18 being mad at him. Goten was definitely apologetic and knew he messed up, but there was no time to dwell. Least of all because he found the perfect gift, rushed to buy it and they were ready to head on back to the party. Even if they were already late.

They quickly shot off and started flying in a direct line headed straight for West City. Both men feared the combined wrath of their mother’s, something even the combined form of Gotenks couldn’t handle. They were focussed solely on their destination. Then Trunks sensed something below them. He stopped suddenly, causing Goten to crash headfirst into the lavender-haired man’s ribs. Trunks fell away, gripping his side.

**“Ow! Watch it,”** Trunks yelled to his friend. Goten rubbed his head and snarled back at Trunks.

**“You’re the one that stopped for no reason.”**

**“I stopped because I felt something down there!”** Trunks said, pointing down towards the ground. Goten looked down, a little perplexed, and then back to Trunks.

**“Well now that you mention it, I feel something as well,”** Goten confirmed. They quickly agreed to check it out and dropped down so they could look around, while still hovering in the air.

**“I can’t tell where it’s coming from, it’s too small,”** Trunks said, realising that while they could feel something it wasn’t clear, until Trunks noticed something, **“And it’s fading fast.”**

Goten looked to Trunks and started to speed up, scouting as much of the area as he could, his eyes catching something.

**“Trunks, there’s blood over here.”**

The two of them dropped to the ground next to the blood and noticed it was dripping along, a little bit, and there were some drag marks in the dirt. They looked around, practically in the middle of nowhere, to see where it could have come from.

**“It looks to be heading out of that forest,”** Goten confirmed, before pointing in the opposite direction, **“Follow on that way.”**

The duo continued to head west until they saw something in the distance, beyond some farmland, on the other side of a fence. There were some horses poking around what looked like a rock or a pile of rags. But it was neither of those things.

**“That’s a person!”** Trunks said, quickly flying over and dropping beside a small teenage boy. He had tattered, bloody clothes, long, messy, and spiky dark hair, and he was in a terrible condition.

**“He looks really hurt,”** Goten said, inspecting the boy’s wounds.

**“We better get him to my mom,”** Trunks said, as Goten leaned down and lifted the boy up over his shoulders.

**“He seems to be breathing, just about,”** Goten stated, feeling the boy’s chest moving, albeit raggedly.

**“Yeah, but he doesn’t look like he has long,”** Trunks said. They both took off and started to fly quickly towards West City. **“I guess we have a reason for being late now.”**

Back at Capsule Corp. everyone was awaiting the arrival of Goten and Trunks. Gohan had made it clear he could finally sense their power level as it headed towards them. Everyone was eager to find out what had kept them so long, especially Pan. She was furious at the boys for missing most of her birthday party, all she really wanted was family to be there.

Nobody went out to meet up with the boys as they landed, but Goten and Trunks rushed into the compound as soon as their feet touched the ground, taking everyone by surprise with their abrupt entrance, even though people were expecting them. Bulma was about to interrogate them and then saw blood dripping down onto Goten’s clothes and onto the floor, then she noticed the boy.

**“What happened?”** Bulma asked, rushing over as Goten walked forward.

**“Mom, we really need to get this kid a Senzu bean or something,”** Trunks said, guiding Goten through the room so they could find somewhere to put the boy down. The two Saiyans, and Bulma, rushed through to the medical bay so they could lay the boy down on a bed, so he could be comfortable.

Gohan went along with them, with Pan and Bra eager to follow. Bra because of her curiosity, Pan because she wanted to know what was unsettling her whole birthday party. Goten put the boy down and stepped back as Bulma used the medical equipment to do a full check-up to see what was wrong with him, apart from the visible injuries. Gohan entered the room to help in any way that he could, with Pan and Bra waiting outside the room. Someone else was watching from nearby. Vegeta was standing away but glanced towards the door.

**_“That boy has a familiar look about him,”_** The Saiyan prince thought to himself.

**“This kid is in terrible shape, we really do need the Senzu beans,”** Bulma said, looking around and then noticing Bra was at the door. **“Bra, go get the beans, they’ll be in the GR.”**

Bra nodded and rushed off to get them, Bulma looked back and saw that Gohan had his hand on the boy’s head.

**“He has an above average power,”** Gohan muttered. Vegeta managed to hear that and was even more intrigued and began to focus more intently. Even Pan was interested.

**“He’s lost a lot of blood, and it doesn’t look like he’s eaten in a while,”** Bulma mentioned. Gohan nodded.

**“It seems like he’s been in this condition for a while,”** Gohan elaborated, motioning to the shredded clothing, long hair, and stained blood. Bulma nodded and stood back, just as Bra rushed in with a Senzu bean. Gohan took it and fed it to the boy, helping him to chew it and swallow.

Just as the bean made its way down his throat the boy’s eyes started to open. He twitched a little bit as the bean kicked in, healing some of his injuries, then there was a burst within and the boy attempted to jump up, ready to defend himself, but Gohan held him down.

**“Woah, calm down,”** Bulma said, placing her hand on the boy’s arm. **“It’s ok, we’re friendly.”**

The boy looked at Gohan, then to Bulma, and then saw Goten, Trunks, and Bra standing at the door. Goten gave a small wave. The boy was breathing heavily and seemed to be in an incredibly panicked state.

**“Relax, we won’t hurt you,”** Bulma said, in a soothing voice. The boy took a breath and sat back, with Gohan pulling away and putting his arms down. The boy seemed to recognise what was going on and was brought back into reality. **“Bra, go get him some water.”**

Bra nodded and rushed off again, Pan followed with her this time.

**“Wait a minute, Bra, what the hell is going on?”** Pan asked, stopping her friend.

**“I don’t know, but we gotta help,”** Bra said, pulling her arm away and rushing to grab a couple of bottles of water. Pan continued with her.

**“This is weird though, right? He just shows up out of nowhere, on my birthday,”** Pan elaborated, although Bra wasn’t too sure of the point she was trying to make.

**“It is weird, but I’m sure we’ll find out,”** Bra said, trying to calm Pan down. She definitely seemed annoyed and unsettled by everything. Bra returned with the water, opened the bottle, and handed it to the boy. He accepted it.

**“Thank you…”** He mumbled, his anxiety in the situation silencing him, along with the dry throat probably. The boy downed almost the entire bottle of water and seemed to have calmed down. Bulma placed her hand on his shoulder, drawing his attention.

**“Can you tell us your name?”** Bulma asked, calmly. The boy looked up at her and saw her as a friendly, knowing he could trust her.

**“I’m Noca,”** He said, nervously. Bulma smiled.

**“Hi, Noca. My name is Bulma, this is my daughter Bra,”** Bulma said, motioning to Bra who was standing nearby.

**“Hi,”** Bra said, smiling. Noca nodded and smiled weakly at her.

**“Over there is my son, Trunks,”** Bulma pointed to the lavender haired main by the door.

**“It was me and Goten that found you,”** Trunks said, nudging Goten, who just waved back again, a smile on his face. Gohan was standing on the opposite side of Noca, looking down inquisitively. Noca glanced at him.

**“I’m Gohan. Goten’s brother,”** Gohan said, maintaining his inquisitive look. **“Would you be able to tell us what happened?”**

Noca swallowed and looked around the room, as he looked at everyone his eyes fell on the raven-haired girl standing just outside of the room, glaring towards him. Her look softened when he looked at her. He couldn’t take his eyes off of her and realised he was beginning to stare. He looked back at Gohan as Pan walked away, to at least have some sort of birthday party.

**“The injuries are because I was training,”** Noca started, still anxious to reveal everything about himself to these people. **“I got stuck in some bad weather.”**

**“The blizzard?”** Gohan enquired, **“Judging by the injuries you had they must have been about a month old, and there was the blizzard around Christmas time.”**

**“Yeah…”** Noca muttered, **“That was what caused it.”**

Noca was going to keep the part about Omega and Delta to himself, even though he himself was unsure of what had actually happened there.

**“Why were you training in a blizzard?”** Bra asked, interested in finding out what other crazy things this person has been through. Noca chuckled slightly.

**“I wasn’t training in the blizzard,”** Noca confirmed, with a smirk, **“I was travelling and got kinda caught in it.”**

**“Where were you travelling to?”** Gohan asked. Before Noca could answer Chi-Chi was approaching and making herself known.

**“Son Gohan, what is going on? It is your daughter’s birthday!”** Chi-Chi yelled, storming into the room and noticing the boy. She hadn’t been caught up on what was going on and was completely unaware that this had happened. She was in the kitchen at the time. **“Oh… who’s this?”**

Noca looked to Gohan.

**“Son… Gohan?”** He questioned, although he didn’t mean to do so out loud. Everyone looked to the boy again. Gohan looked back to his mother.

**“We’ll be out there in a bit ok,”** Gohan said, hoping that would deter his mother’s wrath. Gohan then looked to Goten and Trunks, **“You guys should go see Pan as well, she’s wasn’t happy about you being late.”**

**“Oh yeah, you gotta wrap her gift!”** Trunks said and Goten slapped him.

**“You idiot,”** Goten said.

**“You haven’t wrapped Pan’s gift?”** Bra asked, shocked.

**“Well, he bought it today,”** Trunks said. Goten slapped him again.

**“What’s wrong with you?!”** Goten yelled. Trunks slapped him back.

**“Stop slapping me!”** Trunks yelled back.

**“Will you all get out!”** Bulma shouted at them both. Goten and Trunks rushed off, with Bra following on. Bra did turn back before leaving the room though.

**“Speak to you later, Noca,”** Bra said with a smile. Noca realised he was starting to smile at the interactions between Goten and Trunks, but then Bra just made him feel nervous again. The door closed and Bulma and Gohan were the only ones left with Noca.

**“You seemed surprised by my family name?”** Gohan questioned. Noca cleared his throat and looked down, nervously.

**“I was travelling for a specific reason…”** Noca said. He was beginning to feel like maybe these were people he could trust, especially if this Gohan was related to the person he had come to find. **“My mother sent me to look for Son Goku.”**

Gohan and Bulma looked at each other for a second.

**“And why are you looking for my father?”** Gohan asked, not trying to sound threatening or anything. He didn’t think the boy had any negative intentions.

**“Uh… she said he could train me,”** Noca revealed. He decided to keep the more personal details to himself. Bulma could see something hidden behind his eyes when we thought about it.

**“Well, Goku was the best martial artist in the world, anybody would want to train with him,”** Bulma said.

**“It’s a shame we don’t know where he is,”** Gohan followed-up. Noca looked up at him, confused by it. The boy looked a little defeated.

**“I was told I’d find him in West City,”** Noca said, looking down at his hands.

**“Well, this is West City, but no, unfortunately we don’t know where he is** ,” Bulma confirmed, **“He left a while ago, a long time ago now.”**

Noca didn’t seem to have any more words. Bulma looked to Gohan and then she sat down beside the boy.

**“Why don’t we get you some new clothes and some food,”** Bulma suggested, **“You wait here, and I’ll go find something for you.”**

**“Thank you,”** Noca muttered. Bulma left the room and Gohan walked towards the door.

**“I’d love to talk to your more, Noca. Get to know more about why you wanted to train with my father,”** Gohan said as he opened the door, **“But it’s my daughter’s birthday, and I should probably be there with her.”**

Gohan left the room and Noca was there all alone. He looked forward and saw that in the hallway was another man, with spiky black hair. He was walking away but for some reason he got a familiar feeling from that man. Noca got off of the bed and looked around the room. He was surprised by just how much advanced tech he was in the presence of. These people were certainly special, and kind. Strangely kind. Noca looked to the door to see if anyone was coming. Not yet.

He noticed his bag was sitting in the corner and he picked it up, checking inside to see if everything was still there. Nothing was out of place and Noca was relieved. He didn’t know how familiar he should get with these people, they may be relatives and friends of Son Goku, but they weren’t him. Noca saw that the woman Bulma was returning and had some clothes folded up in her hands. She knocked and entered.

**“These are some of my son’s old things,”** Bulma said, placing down the small pile on the bed. It seemed like there was enough for a couple of days, and almost all of it looked like it had never been worn. **“I wasn’t sure what you would want so I brought a selection.”**

**“Thank you,”** Noca muttered timidly. Now that he had a proper chance to adjust and wake up his nerves were really setting in.

**“You don’t have to worry about anything right now, you’re safe with us,”** Bulma said, assuming that due to the boy’s condition he was hiding a lot about why he had been injured. Noca sighed. **“You just take the time you need in here, and then you should come and join us, we can introduce you to everyone. It might help you feel more comfortable.”**

**“Thanks, I will,”** Noca said, looking up and meeting Bulma’s eyes, he smiled for a second and looked down at the clothes again.

**“There’s a bathroom just through there so you can wash up,”** Bulma said before leaving Noca in peace. Noca watched her go and waited for her to disappear from view before starting to go through the clothes. He settled on a red t-shirt, and a pair of black jogging bottoms. Just something comfortable and neutral. He set it to the side and went to the bathroom.

It was bigger than what he was used to. There was a large shower and he walked over to it gingerly. It seemed fairly simple to use but also very modern. He turned it on, removed his tattered clothes and stepped in. Initially the water felt so hot and foreign. It had been a while since he had been able to clean himself properly, with hot water and soap. He stepped in completely and let the water wash over him and he eased into it. He relaxed. It was an amazing feeling, almost like something completely new.

He cleaned himself up, taking the time to get in every nook and cranny to get everything as squeaky clean as it should be. It was almost like a miracle. The feeling was heavenly and afterwards he felt like a brand-new person. He re-entered the room after he had finished, dried himself and changed into the clothes he had chosen, leaving the rest behind. He grabbed his bag and walked to the door. He stopped and looked through, trying to see if he could spot anyone, but he was taken down a hallway and knew everyone was probably just around the corner, based on where they had walked to.

Noca reached for the door handle and stopped himself. It was weird. He felt out of place. He was worried that when he stepped out there, they would all be staring at him and wondering who he was and stuff like that. He was scared of being the centre of attention. He was starting to tremble a little, out of fear. He looked through again and saw the girl from before poking her head around the corner. Bulma’s daughter. She smiled and waved down at him, motioning for him to come out. Noca took a breath and stepped out, feeling like he was accomplishing something big. He slowly walked up the hall as she waited.

**“It’s about time you emerged!”** Bra said, enthusiastically as he reached her. **“Noca, wasn’t it?”**

**“Yeah,”** Noca answered, smiling nervously. **“You were Bra, right?”**

Bra nodded and grabbed Noca by the arm, dragging him in the hall where the party was being held.

**“Come on, let’s get you something to eat!”**

Bra dragged Noca all the way over to the huge buffet table that had been set-up with all the food that Chi-Chi had supervised the preparation of all day. Bra took a plate and turned to Noca.

**“What do you like?”** She asked but noticed that Noca was baffled by the mountains of food before him. She chuckled to herself and started to put stuff on that plate. **“Chi-Chi is an amazing cook so I’m certain you’ll love this food.”**

She finished putting stuff on the plate and turned back to Noca, presenting it to him.

**“Here you go, Bon Appetit!”** She exclaimed, Noca took it from her and smiled.

**“Thank you,”** He said, a little less awkwardly. He smiled at her and was then led over to a table, where Goten was sitting, apparently, he had beckoned them over.

**“Hey, kid, you’re looking much better now, eat up, this stuff is great!”** Goten said, as he dug into his own food. Noca looked at Goten, saw that there was a brunette woman sitting beside him, she smiled and gave a little wave. Noca nodded towards her in a friendly manner. He then saw Trunks with a blonde sitting beside him. They appeared to be a couple.

Bra dropped beside Noca and nudged him gently.

**“Dig in,”** She said. Noca looked down at the plate, realised that he was incredibly hungry, starving even, and he did just what Bra said, he dug in. After eating a little bit, he stopped for a second.

**“Oh wow… I don’t think I’ve ever had food this good,”** He said, Goten chuckled beside him.

**“Yeah, my Mom’s the best,”** he exclaimed, a wide grin on his face. Noca chuckled nervously. He finished up his food and had some juice, taking a chance to sit and just relax afterwards. Everyone was talking and Noca had no idea how to insert himself into the conversation. He still wasn’t familiar or necessarily comfortable with any of these people.

**“So, where did you travel from?”** Bra asked.

**“Oh… um, the mountains…”** Noca said, almost questioning it in his head. Bra giggled a little.

**“Which ones?”** She asked. Noca thought for a second.

**“Well, in the Southern regions, I’m from a small village up in the mountain range,”** Noca elaborated, as best as he could. **“It’s called Kayu village.”**

**“Kayu?”** An inquisitive, yet gruff voice said from behind him. Noca turned and saw the same unknown spiky-haired man from before leaning against the wall. **“I knew someone named Kayu once.”**

Noca started to feel uncomfortable again, he was getting into an area that he wasn’t certain about. He didn’t think it was the right time to reveal anything about himself, just yet. Noca looked at the man and for some reason he could tell. He recognised that this man was a Saiyan. He didn’t know how he could tell, but it was clear to him. That’s when it clicked. Of course, that meant that Gohan and Goten were also Saiyans.

**“That’s my dad, Vegeta,”** Bra confirmed. Noca turned to look at her. That meant that she and Trunks were Saiyans also.

**“How do you know the name Kayu?”** Vegeta asked, walking over to the table. Noca cowered a little bit, that man was incredibly intimidating.

**“Uh… I… well it’s the name of my village,”** Noca replied.

**“Don’t get smart with me,”** Vegeta snapped. Bra slapped him on the arm.

**“Stop it, dad,”** She said, Vegeta continued to glare at Noca.

**“It was named after…”** Noca started, briefly stopping to think about his next words. No sense in revealing who he truly was, he didn’t feel like it for some reason. **“I think, it was named after some guy’s father, a man that lived in our village, before I was born.”**

**“What was his name?”** Vegeta asked.

**“Uh…”** Noca murmured as he started to think about it, but Vegeta was impatient.

**“Answer me,”** He snapped back.

**“Give me a second, it was before I was born,”** Noca said, snapping back in his own way, and finding a little bit of his fighting spirit. He immediately lost it though. **“I think his name was Cilu.”**

Vegeta’s whole demeanour seemed to change and he stepped back, thinking on that name. Noca looked around the table, almost worried that everyone else might have reacted the same way to hearing his grandfather’s name. Fortunately, they were all just as confused him. Noca looked back at Vegeta and noticed that there wasn’t a glare anymore, it was a more inquisitive look this time.

**“Is that name important?”** Noca asked.

**“He was a Saiyan,”** Vegeta said, clearly hiding more information. Noca wanted to see what else Vegeta knew, but he didn’t seem willing to give up that information.

**“Another one, here on Earth?”** Trunks questioned, **“How can that be?”**

**“He must have got away,”** Vegeta said, looking down at Noca again. The teen was starting to feel very uncomfortable with Vegeta’s eyes piercing into his soul. Noca turned around and started picking at his food as Vegeta walked away, disappearing into his gravity room. Bra tried to ease the tension.

**“Um… well, Noca we should probably explain what a Saiyan is, right?”** Bra said, looking up to her brother and Goten. They both seemed to react nervously. Noca looked around and saw that while they were trying to piece something together in their minds, he had a chance to say something.

**“I kinda already know,”** Noca mentioned, earning more stares, from everyone at the table this time. Noca closed in a little. **“I mean, I grew up in a village that was named after a Saiyan, some people had stories about him. Nothing special, just that he was another planet.”**

The Saiyans at the table looked at each other and they didn’t see anything wrong with that response, nothing to pick at. Noca felt relieved. Everyone continued to eat their food and enjoy the party, chatting, drinking, playing music and occasionally dancing. When he had finished eating, Noca was dragged away by Bra yet again, this time he was taken over to sit with Pan and Kiera.

**“Ok, so, girls, this is Noca,”** Bra said, as she sat him down opposite the two girls. Noca looked at them both awkwardly and smiled. **“Noca, this is Pan and Kiera.”**

Noca looked to the raven-haired girl who was staring daggers at him.

**“You’re Pan?”** He said in a questioning tone, and then he looked to the blonde, she gave a gentle wave, **“And you’re Kiera?”**

Pan gave a murmured ‘mm-hm’ in response while Kiera was a bit nicer.

**“Yeah, hi, nice to meet you,”** Kiera said, shaking Noca’s hand. Noca was amused by the formality and just proceeded to sit there uncomfortably.

**“It’s actually Pan’s thirteenth birthday today!”** Bra half-exclaimed.

**“Oh, really? Well, happy birthday,”** Noca said, smiling at her in a friendly way, but he could tell she wasn’t overly fond of him at that time. Noca looked down nervously. **“I’m sorry to… intrude.”**

**“Oh, no, you’re not intruding,”** Bra said, defensively. **“We’re all surprised about this of course, but there’s nothing wrong with it.”**

**“It’s fine, you don’t have to say anything,”** Noca said, slowly standing up. **“I shouldn’t hang around anyway.”**

**“What do you mean?”** Bra asked. Pan started to draw within herself a little bit, feeling a little guilty for the vibe she had given off, even though she was annoyed about the attention briefly being taken away from her on her birthday by some random stranger.

**“Well, the reason I travelled this way has obviously been unsuccessful, so I should keep going or… return home,”** Noca said, trailing off and looking away. **“I shouldn’t hang around where I don’t belong.”**

**“What? But you said you were from the southern mountain range. You’re going to travel back there?”** Bra said, standing up and managing to draw the attention of everyone again. Pan reacted to this but not in a way that was noticeable. Noca froze on the spot for a second and then found his courage.

**“Like I said earlier, I came looking for Son Goku,”** Noca started. Pan perked up again. Noca looked to Gohan and then to Bra. **“I need to find him for a reason, I was told to find him. So, that’s what I’ll do.”**

**“Why?”** A voice piped up. Noca turned to see it was Gohan, stepping forward. **“You haven’t been clear on why you’re looking for my father. We can help you if there’s a problem.”**

Noca looked around again, realising the scene he was creating. There was no way to really back out of it easily and quietly.

**“My mother said I needed to train with him, so I can return to my home as a stronger person,”** Noca confirmed, continuing to leave out certain details. He and Gohan looked at each other for a second and Gohan seemed to be considering something. Noca wasn’t sure what was going on, but he was growing increasingly anxious.

**“There’s no need to rush off immediately, you need to rest,”** Gohan suggested. Noca looked around again and spotted someone on the other side of the room and he was certain he saw someone he knew. It was a blonde woman, with an almost dead, intimidating stare. Noca looked at her a little too long and then looked back to Gohan.

**“Ok…”** Noca muttered stepping back and sitting down at the table again. Pan was still staring at him, but Noca just looked down at the table. Bra returned to her seat and was clearly trying to find something to talk about.

**“So, uh… how old are you?”** Bra asked. Noca didn’t react immediately. He continued to stare down at the table and then he breathed in and let out a heavy sigh. He turned to Bra and smiled weakly.

**“I’m thirteen as well,”** Noca said, keeping in mind that it was Pan’s birthday he glanced back at her and looked down again. Unknown to the boy, the blonde woman from before was walking over. She tapped Noca on the shoulder. Noca turned and got a much closer look at the blonde haired, blue-eyed woman. He flinched a little, not expecting her.

**“Why were you staring at me a second ago?”** Android #18 asked. She seemed a little agitated by it.

**“I’m sorry…”** Noca replied, **“You just reminded me of someone…”**

**“#18, don’t worry, I’m sure he meant nothing by it,”** Bra said, trying to defend him and keep the situation to remain calm. Noca heard the number and it took him a second before it clearly registered in his mind.

**“Android #18? You’re #17’s brother?”** Noca questioned. She seemed surprised.

**“You know my brother?”** She asked.

**“Uh… yeah, he actually helped me when I first left my village, he helped save my best friend and her family,”** Noca elaborated. #18 seemed to smirk and stepped away.

**“So, he’s still doing some good out there,”** #18 said, walking back to Krillin. Noca sat back down, watching her go and then looked back to Bra.

**“I think I need to sleep,”** Noca mentioned, leaning back in the chair.

**“Oh, I can show you to one of the spare bedrooms, you should definitely stay here the night,”** Bra suggested, standing up and then looking for her mother. **“Hey, mom, Noca can stay here the night, right?”**

Bulma looked over, surprised by her daughter suddenly calling out for her.

**“Oh, yeah, he can stay as long as he needs to,”** Bulma replied, before going back to her conversation with Videl. Bra took him by the arm again and led him away.

**“Come on,”** She said, leading him out of the room. Noca was glad that she was finally taking him away from that situation. He had been feeling so uncomfortable. Before she did drag him away, he did get a chance for one more thing.

**“Bye, Kiera. Happy birthday again, Pan,”** He said before being dragged out of the room. Pan didn’t say anything back, but Kiera did say bye. Once he was gone Pan sighed and sat forward.

**“What is he doing?”** Pan asked. Kiera’s brow furrowed.

**“What do you mean?”** She asked.

**“Showing up here out of the blue and causing a scene, taking the attention away,”** Pan said, she did seem to be acting a bit childish, but she was still only a teenager.

**“I don’t think he meant it,”** Kiera said, shrugging her shoulders, but trying not to make Pan mad.

**“No, it isn’t intentional, but come on, the whole time my father was there observing him, Bra was dragging him around the whole time. She’s meant to be my best friend,”** Pan said, crossing her arms and leaning back in the chair again.

**“She is your best friend, she was just being nice, that’s Bra,”** Kiera said, smiling, hoping it would make Pan feel better. **“It’s still your birthday and Bra will be back to spend time with us.”**

Pan huffed, but she had to admit that Kiera was making sense. Pan didn’t need to be so harsh on the stranger. He hadn’t done anything harmful, she just wished it hadn’t been on her day.

Bra and Noca finally arrived at the guest room that she had chosen for the boy.

**“Here you are,”** She said, opening the door and letting Noca step in. **“You have your own king-size bed and en-suite bathroom, everything you need can be sent up through that chute as well.”**

Noca looked around and was pretty shocked by it.

**“This is too much, this is biggest bedroom I’ve ever been in,”** Noca stated, chuckling nervously.

**“Oh, really? This is like half the size of my room,”** Bra stated, looking around and then back to Noca to see his eyes were wider. **“What?”**

**“What do you do with all that space?”** Noca asked. Bra laughed.

**“I make it work, I guess,”** She joked, **“This is what we get for being the Capsule Corp. family.”**

Noca titled his head to the side slightly.

**“Capsule Corp.?”** Noca questioned.

**“Yeah, the family company, you know Capsule Corp., right?”** She asked.

**“I do, but… didn’t know that was your family,”** Noca said, laughing again. **“Wow.”**

**“Well, I think you’ve had enough information thrown your way today. I’ll let you rest up now,”** She said, backing out of the room. **“Good night, Noca.”**

**“Good night,”** Noca said, smiling as she closed the door. It closed and his smiled dropped away. He finally had the peace and quiet, and isolation he had wanted. It wasn’t that he didn’t like any of them, but he had a lot to process, and figure out. He set his bag down and jumped on the bed. It was an incredible comfort and he didn’t realise how much he had missed it. He had truly embraced the outside lifestyle while he was there, but now he could fall asleep on the cloud and rest his body properly. He stretched out and quickly fell into a deep sleep.

He finally reached the city and, unfortunately, Son Goku wasn’t there. He was still far from his goal of training and becoming strong enough to return to his village and… well, he wasn’t really sure what the end goal was. It wasn’t something he had taken too much time to think about, oddly enough. He just wanted to get to Goku and do what his mother had told him to. Those thoughts would certainly play on Noca’s mind soon enough. But that would come later. Right now, Noca can sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading my story, if you managed to get to the end. A lot of the ideas here were developed when I was quite young, and I’ve tried my best to expand upon them and make them feel appropriate now that I’m much older. I think this story still works, and it’s a part of a story that means so much to me now.
> 
> I know it’s very heavy on the Original Characters and I know the main character can seem over-powered at times, but at the end of the day, it is fanfiction, and it is Dragon Ball. Either way, I hope people enjoyed this one. I want to wait and say what response is like before I decide to press ahead with uploading the rest of them, but they are all still available on Fanfiction.net as well. 
> 
> Because there were a lot of characters in this story, I’m going to leave a list at the end here.
> 
> Characters Seen/Mentioned in this Story:  
> Son Goku  
> Kid Buu  
> Uub  
> Pan  
> Noca (OC)  
> Emna (OC)  
> Cilu (OC)  
> Cilu’s Wife (OC)  
> Kayu (OC)  
> Sala (OC)  
> Noca’s Father (OC)  
> Holline (OC)  
> Son Gohan  
> Videl  
> Son Goten  
> Valese  
> Chi-Chi  
> Dende  
> Piccolo  
> Krillin  
> Android #18  
> Master Roshi  
> Marron  
> Tien  
> Chiaotzu  
> Bulma  
> Vegeta  
> Trunks  
> Bra  
> Jack (OC)  
> Chloe (OC)  
> Alice (OC)  
> Mr Sheffield (OC)  
> Mr Popo  
> Avure (OC)  
> Dole (OC)  
> Android #17  
> Omega (OC)  
> Holline’s Grandfather (OC)  
> Dr Gero  
> Delta (OC)  
> Dazir (OC)  
> Shai (OC)  
> Zala (OC)  
> Erasa  
> Kiera (OC)  
> Holline’s Mother (OC)  
> Omar (OC)  
> Yento (OC)  
> Kareshi (OC)


End file.
